NORTON, Mass. – Seniors Haley McCreight (Greenville, R.I.) and Adara Hamilton (Mercer Island Wash.) each put down 12 kills to help lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team to a 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 25-17, 18-25, 15-9) victory over visiting Gordon College this afternoon on Senior Day at Emerson Gymnasium on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass. The Lyons improve to 13-7 on the season, while the Fighting Scots fall to 10-8. 

Wheaton hit .203 as a team for the match and fired 16 aces after celebrating McCreight and Hamilton's accomplishments during their tenure at the Norton campus. 

McCreight's kill total marked a career high. She also maintained a .450 hitting percentage and matched her career best with five block assists to give her 14.5 points for the contest. Hamilton led the Lyons with 18 points, adding five aces and two block assists to her day, in addition to eight digs. Junior right side hitter Bailey Madrzyk (Barrington, Ill.) committed just one attack error for the match, while spiking for 12 kills on a .550 hitting mark. She added two block assists and a pair of aces. Junior setter Hannah George (Duxbury, Mass.) set for a career-high 42 assists to go with three kills, eight digs, two aces and four block assists, while junior libero Sophie Wilhelm (Saunderstown, R.I.) got down for 14 digs and fired three aces. 

Junior middle hitter Valerie Nilan (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) led all players with 15 kills on a .500 hitting percentage, while serving an ace and coming up with five total blocks for Gordon. First year right side hitter Annie Murphy (Wenham, Mass.) finished with nine kills and four total blocks and junior outside hitter Emily Schneider (Sutton, Mass.) registered 12 points with seven kills and five aces and added nine digs. Senior libero Hayley Robinson (San Diego, Calif.) picked up a match-best 15 digs and sophomore setter Kate Howe (Belfast, N.Y.) recorded a double-double with 34 assists and 12 digs to go with two aces and three block assists. 

Wheaton jumped out to a 7-2 first set lead, but the Fighting Scots put together an 11-5 run, led by three kills from Nilan, to take a 13-12 edge. The teams traded the lead before the Lyons sat with a 22-20 margin following a kill from Hamilton. Gordon scored five of the next six points, capped by a kill from Murphy to win the set. 

Wheaton took an early 11-5 advantage in the second set and never looked back, maintaining the lead for the remainder of the set. The Lyons later owned a 15-9 margin, following a kill from McCreight and a pair of aces from Wilhelm, but the Fighting Scots ripped off five straight points, including four during sophomore defensive specialist Nikki Batson's (Windham, N.H.) serve to close to within 15-14. It was as close as the visitors would get. Wheaton went on a 9-1 run, including a pair of kills from Hamilton and two aces from George, to take a 24-15 cushion. The Fighting Scots stayed true to their name, staying in the fight with four unanswered points, before the Lyons took a 25-19 decision. 

Wheaton started quickly again in the third set, taking a 13-5 lead, including three kills from McCreight. The Lyons did not surrender its lead throughout the frame. Gordon later cut the deficit to 18-15, but the home team closed out the set with seven of the final nine points, including a Hamilton ace for the final point, to take a 2-1 lead in the match. George shined in the set with 12 assists. 

The Fighting Scots turned the tables in the fourth set and never trailed throughout the session. Schneider led Gordon to a 12-3 lead to open the set with a pair of kills and three aces. Wheaton responded with a 12-3 stretch, fueled by four kills from Madrzyk, to pull within 15-13. The Lyons stayed within two points at 19-17, following two aces from Hamilton, but the Fighting Scots finished the set by scoring six of the final seven points, including three kills from Nilan to knot the match at 2-2. 

The teams were tied at 5-5 in the fifth set and Wheaton held an 8-7 edge, before the Lyons put some room between themselves and its guests with a 7-2 burst to close out the set and the match. Hamilton put the exclamation point on the win with an ace to finish it. 

Wheaton returns to action on Tuesday, October 19 when it heads to Cambridge, Mass. to take on New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference foe Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 7:00 p.m., while Gordon travels to Beverly, Mass. on the same day for a 7:00 p.m. contest with Endicott College.