WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Wheaton College volleyball team dropped a 1-3 (19-25, 29-27, 11-25, 20-25) New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest to Wellesley College Tuesday night at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

The Lyons (7-7; 0-2 NEWMAC) were led by Allison Cox and Claire Cansler who finished with nine kills apiece. Sophomore Cathryn MacGregor and first year Cameron Mercer added four kills each, while junior captain Stephanie Martin anchored the Wheaton defense with 12 digs. First year setter Becca Houghton dished out 19 assists in the setback.

Wellesley (8-4; 2-0 NEWMAC) sophomore Yasmine Reece paced the Blue with 18 kills, 14 digs and three blocks. Samantha Ostenso finished with a career-high 10 kills, while Alex Kew and Kennedy Ulfig and Meghan Shoop chipped in seven kills.

Wellesley opened with a 25-19 victory in the first set, running up a 22-15 lead before the Lyons ran off four points in-a-row to close the gap to 22-19. However, a Lyon service error followed by back-to-back kills from Ulfig and Kew gave the Blue the first set.

Wheaton tied the match in the second set, outlasting the Blue for a 29-27 victory. Wellesley seemed destined to take a 2-0 lead in the match, leading 23-20 late in the second frame. Trailing by three, Wheaton was the team that pulled within one point of taking the set, scoring four unanswered points to take a 24-23 edge. The Blue tied the match on a kill from Kew, as the sides exchanged point until the score hit 27-all. Back-to-back miscues from the Blue then gave the Lyons the 29-27 win.

Wellesley responded in the third set, turning in the team's most complete effort of the night to take a commanding 25-11 victory. Wellesley hit .500 in the third game, holding the Lyons to just eight kills to regain control of the match. The Blue continued to roll in the fourth game, hitting .412 as they took the match with a 25-20 victory. Wellesley broke open the fourth set with an 8-0 run with Shoop at the service line, taking a 21-10 lead before eventually closing out the match.

Wheaton returns home to host Rhode Island College in non-conference action on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.