Lyons score three-straight points in set five to take the match

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Facing match point in set five, the Wheaton College women's volleyball team rallied past Coast Guard Academy with three-straight points to earn a 3-2 victory by scores of 25-22, 21-25, 12-25, 25-23 and 16-14 on Tuesday night in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest at Merriman Gym.

Wheaton junior outside hitter Deirdre Wilson (Aptos, Calif./Aptos) tied up the contest at 14-14 with a kill and also helped the Lyons take a 15-14 advantage with a block assist alongside sophomore Colleen Koen (Centerville, Mass./Barnstable). After a timeout by Coast Guard, Koen sent the Wheaton bench into a frenzy with a cross-court putaway just inside the left sideline to complete the comeback win over the Bears and snap their five-match winning streak.

Koen paced the offense with 12 kills, two digs and one block assist, while Wilson compiled her seventh triple-double this season and eighth overall in her career with 11 putaways, 22 assists and ten digs. Junior outside hitter Arieanne Creighton (Brookline, N.H./Hollis Brookline) added ten kills, one assist, three digs and one solo block and classmate Kendall Jacobs (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch) contributed ten kills, one service ace and three digs.

Sophomore setter Caitlin Hellebrand (Corona, Calif./Santiago) dished out a match-high 25 assists and also registered one kill, a service ace, and six digs. First-year Stephanie Martin (Centerville, Mass./Barnstable) led all student-athletes with 24 digs.

Coast Guard junior middle hitter Ashley Dumont (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel) notched a team-high 13 kills (.333 hitting percentage) and five blocks (two solo). First-years Summer Adams (Gig Harbor, Wash./Gig Harbor) and Emma Saunders (LaGrange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) both posted nine kills, while classmate Michelle Hernandez (Folsom, Calif./Bella Vista High) turned in an all-around match with eight kills, 16 assists, ten digs and one block assist. Junior setter Maggie Hine (Richmond, Va./Eastern Mennonite) ran the offense with 22 assists, 11 digs, one kill and a service ace.

In the first set, Koen broke open a 4-4 tie with her first of four kills in the stanza to guide Wheaton to an eventual 25-22 triumph. The Lyons led by as many as eight points (22-14) and posted their highest hitting percentage in any set of the match at .265. Jacobs and Koen tied for the set-high in kills with four, while junior middle hitter Elise Waelder (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma) had two putaways and Creighton chipped in with one.

Coast Guard responded over the next two sets to take a 2-1 differential in the match behind back-to-back efficient sets with hitting percentages of .222 and .357, respectively. In set two, the Bears tallied 13 kills with three apiece coming from Adams and Dumont. Coast Guard also took advantage of a match-high 11 Wheaton attacking errors in set three to breeze to a 25-12 win.

Set four featured ten ties and seven lead changes before the Lyons rattled off six kills down the stretch to hold off Coast Guard, 25-23, and force the extra session. Creighton led the charge with five putaways, while junior Taylor Matook (Exeter, R.I./Exeter-West Greenwich) connected for three kills and Wilson had two kills to highlight the attack.

Wheaton (13-10, 4-3 NEWMAC) hosts Bridgewater State University and Western Connecticut State University this weekend with match one among all three schools scheduled for 2 p.m. Coast Guard (15-8, 5-2 NEWMAC) welcomes Eastern Connecticut State University and Salve Regina to its campus this Saturday with match one beginning at 11 a.m.

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