Creighton sends home 16 kills in two matches

NEWPORT, R.I. – The Wheaton College women's volleyball team split a pair of matches against Salve Regina University and Southern Vermont College on day one of the Ocean State Classic on Friday evening at the Rodgers Recreation Center. The Lyons fell to the host Seahawks in match one by scores of 22-25, 20-25 and 19-25 but bounced back in match two versus the Mountaineers by scores of 25-9, 27-25, 25-12.

Wheaton junior Deirdre Wilson (Aptos, Calif./Aptos) powered the offense with 21 kills, 16 digs, 17 assists and two blocks (one solo). Classmate Arieanne Creighton (Brookline, N.H./Hollis Brookline) added 16 kills – including 11 in match two – four digs, two assists and a block assist. Sophomore Caitlin Hellebrand (Corona, Calif./Santiago) facilitated the attack with 21 assists and eight digs.

Junior Casey Hess (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) added ten kills, three digs, one assist and two blocks (one solo), while sophomore Colleen Koen (Centerville, Mass./Barnstable) had nine kills and two block assists. Defensively, sophomore Olivia Wilson (Alameda, Calif./Head Royce) notched a team-high 28 digs and dished out six assists and first-year Jodi Katz (Needham, Mass./Needham) bumped up 13 attacks and added one assist.

SALVE REGINA 3, WHEATON 0 (22-25, 20-25, 19-25)

D. Wilson compiled nine kills, nine assists, 13 digs and two blocks (one solo) to highlight Wheaton's offense in match one of the evening, while Hess added eight kills and two digs. Koen, Taylor Matook (Exeter, R.I./Exeter-West Greenwich) and Creighton all chipped in with five kills apiece and also combined for six blocks (all assists).

O. Wilson registered 12 digs and Katz had eight digs. Hellebrand collected a team-high 12-assists to go along with four digs and one service ace.

Trailing 9-5 in set one, Salve Regina used a 6-2 rally to even the score at 11-11 via four kills and a pair of attacking errors by the Lyons. Wheaton reclaimed a 17-12 advantage as both teams exchanged a bevy of attack errors but Salve Regina answered with another run, this time a 6-1 spurt, to make the score 18-17 in favor of the hosts. Back-to-back kills and consecutive errors from both clubs shifted the score to 20-19, although Wheaton didn't go away quietly with kills from Hess and D. Wilson to even the score at 21-21. The Seahawks closed out the set with a 4-1 run highlighted by two kills from junior Emily Lipinski (Hampden, Mass./Minnechaug) to claim the 25-22 victory.

Salve Regina only trailed once in the second set as the Seahawks produced a match-high .303 hitting percentage and 13 kills to erase their largest deficit of the set of three points and notch an eventual 25-20 triumph. In set three, Salve Regina led from the whistle using a 5-0 run to begin the stanza and never looked back. The Seahawks hit .267 on 12 kills, four errors and 30 attempts to sweep the Lyons.

WHEATON 3, SOUTHERN VERMONT 0 (25-9, 27-25, 25-12)

D. Wilson paced the attacked in match two with 12 putaways (.550 hitting percentage), eight assists and three digs, while Creighton drove home 11 kills (.364 hitting percentage) and also registered one dig. Koen and junior Sarah Alexander (Wayne, Pa./Conestoga) aided the offense with four kills each.

Wheaton ran away with set one using a match-high .312 hitting percentage and 13 kills. The Lyons, who led by as many as 14 points (22-8), generated two separate runs highlighted by a 10-1 outburst when the score was close at 8-5 to secure their 25-9 victory in set one.

Southern Vermont hung in against Wheaton in set two as neither team held more than a three-point advantage. Tied 24-24, the Mountaineers gained a 25-24 margin on the scoreboard after an attacking error by the Lyons but Wheaton responded with three-straight points on a pair of kills from Hellebrand and one from Robyn D'Agostino (Three Bridges, N.J./Hunterdon Central) to take the second set.

Wheaton used that momentum in set three closing out Southern Vermont quickly with a .286 hitting percentage and a match-high 15 kills. The Lyons led by as many as 12 on two separate occasions (20-8 & 23-11) before the final score in set three of 25-12.

Wheaton (4-4) returns to action tomorrow on day two of the Ocean State Classic at the tournament's second venue on the campus of Roger Williams University. The Lyons will play Colby-Sawyer College at 9 a.m. and the hosts, Roger Williams, at 11 a.m.

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