NORTON, Mass. – First year outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) (14) and junior outside hitter Annah Shaheen (Portsmouth, N.H.) (13) combined for 27 kills to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team over visiting Wellesley College, 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-21) this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons win their third straight match to improve to 8-7 overall and 2-3 in league play, while the Blue fall to 5-10 and 0-6.

Wheaton did not hit lower than .353 in any of the three sets and finished the contest with a season-high .443 hitting percentage. Wellesley also hit well at a .233 clip.

Lyon hit a torrid .619 for the match with just one attack error in 21 attempts and added an ace and eight digs to her career-high kill total for the Lyons, while Shaheen hit .550 and picked up five digs. Senior setter Hannah George (Duxbury, Mass.) set up the pair for most of the night and finished with 22 assists, six digs and a pair of aces. Senior libero Sophie Wilhelm (Saunderstown, R.I.) got down for nine digs and fired three aces, while junior defensive specialist Isabel Coca (San Marcos, Calif.) fired four aces to give her three or more aces in five straight contests.

Junior outside hitter Kate Salembier (Sierra Madre, Calif.) spiked for nine kills on a .280 hitting clip for the Blue and added two aces and a dig, while first year middle blocker Kennedy Mayo (Long Branch, N.J.) swung for seven kills and hit .278 to go with three block assists. Sophomore middle blocker Mia Maxwell (Arlington, Mass.) was extremely efficient with five kills in six attempts for a blazing .833 hitting mark to go with a dig. Sophomore setter Mikayla Tansil (Warren, Mich.) set for 19 assists and collected four digs and first year libero Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) got down for a match-high 10 digs and served for an ace.

Wellesley held a 2-1 lead in the opening set, but it was their only advantage of the frame. Wheaton later owned a 9-7 lead before going on an 11-1 blitz, including three aces from Wilhelm, to take a commanding 20-8 lead. The Lyons maintained their cushion and took the first set, 25-13.

The Blue tallied four of the first five points of the second set to take a 4-1 lead, but neither team led by more than two before the visitors were holding a 16-15 edge late in the frame. The teams were tied at 20-20, but Wheaton rolled up its sleeves and scored five of the final six points, including the winning kill from senior right side hitter Bailey Madrzyk (Barrington, Ill.), to take the set by four points and a 2-0 lead in the match. 

Wellesley held another early 3-2 lead in the final set, before the Lyons took control with a 17-6 stretch, fueled by four kills from Shaheen and three from Lyon, to give the home team a 19-9 advantage. Wheaton owned its biggest lead at 22-11, but the Blue put together a 7-2 run, including four straight points to pull it to within 24-19. Senior outside hitter Emily Hickey (Kennebunk, Maine) put the match away for the Lyons with the night's final kill.

Wheaton returns to action on Thursday, October 6 when it travels to Wenham, Mass. to take on Gordon College at 7:00 p.m., while Wellesley hosts Westfield State University on October 8 at 2:00 p.m.