WORCESTER, Mass. - The Wheaton College volleyball team opened New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play at WPI, while also taking on Gordon in a neutral site contest. 

The Lyons are now 5-8 on the season. WPI improve to 6-2, while Gordon improves to 7-5 overall.

vs. WPI
Despite winning the first set, the Lyons could not hold off WPI, falling 2-3 (25-23, 22-25, 25-13, 25-20, 16-14). With the loss Wheaton is now 0-1 in conference play, while WPI improves to 1-1 in the NEWMAC.

Kendall Jacobs led the Lyons with a match-high 14 kills, while Arieanne Creighton finished with 10 and Elise Waelder with nine. Deirdre Wilson setup her teammates a match-high 31 times, while Cari Sheets ended the match with 21 assists. Stephanie Martin came up with 20 digs, while Olivia Wilson had 16 and Jodi Katz 13. Waelder also earned a team-high four blocks.

Casey Hunt and Sam Bircsak led WPI will 11 kills each, while Shay Feeley dished out a team-high 22 assists. Bircsak led all players with five blocks.

The first set was a constant back and forth with the two sides tying the contest 15 times. With the set tied for the final time, 23-23, the Lyons put the game away with a kill by Creighton and an attacking error by WPI.

WPI had different plans in the second set, blazing ahead to a 10-3 lead. Wheaton settled down and slowly worked its way back into the set, tying the set at 14-14 with back-to-back Creighton kills. WPI handed the Lyons their first lead of the set moments later with an attacking error by Bircsak. The end of the set saw the two sides trade points with WPI having just enough to pull out the win.

The majority of the third set was a competitive battle of wills until a kill by Waelder shifted all the momentum Wheaton's way. Now tied 6-6, the Lyons closed out the set on an impressive 19-7 run, earning a 25-13 win.

Just like the first two sets, the fourth was back and forth until the end. With the set tied at 14-14, WPI did just enough to keep the Lyons at a distance, going to pull out the 25-20 win. The Lyons held control of much of the fifth set, but let WPI back in at the end.

vs. GORDON
Like the WPI match, the Lyons won the first and third sets but could not hang on for a win. Gordon defeated Wheaton 3-2 (19-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-19, 15-12).

Wilson led the Lyons with a match-high 14 kills, while Creighton and Sarah Alexander each had seven. Wilson earned 22 assists in the match, while Martin had a team-high 21 digs. Alexander finished with a team-high four blocks, while Destinee DuBose denied Gordon three times.

Meghan Hikanson and Carleigh Petersen led Gordon with nine kills each. Renee Cooprider picked up a match-high 29 assists, while Petersen had a team-high 17 digs. Hokanson led all players with six blocks.

Wheaton began to pull away from Gordon in the first set after Taylor Matook tied the contest at 16-16. The Lyons rattled off five unanswered points, before closing out the set on a D. Wilson kill and two Gordon errors. 

Gordon took the lead early in the second set and never let it go, earning the 25-19 win. The Fightin Scots cruised to an early lead in the third set, but the Lyons quickly worked their way back into the contest. Trailing 14-9, the Lyons put together an 11-0 run that earned them the lead for good.

The two sides traded points in the fourth set until an ace by Cooprider broke the 17-17 deadlock. Gordon would never trail the Lyons after that. The Fighting Scots carried the momentum from the fourth set into the fifth, walking away with the set and the match.

UP NEXT:
The Lyons return home on Tuesday, Sept. 22 for a NEWMAC contest against Wellesley at 7 p.m. in Emerson Gymnasium.

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