NORTON, Mass. – First year outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) recorded her first career double-double with 10 kills and a career-high 12 digs to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team to a 3-1 (26-24, 28-26, 18-25, 26-24) victory over visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons improve to 5-5 overall and 1-2 in league play, while the Engineers fall to 5-4 and 0-3.

All three of Wheaton's winning sets went beyond the required 25 points to earn a set victory.

Lyon added three aces to her night for the home team, while first year middle hitter Hollis Hanson (Parker, Colo.) scored 11.5 points, including nine kills on a .500 hitting mark to go with two aces, a block assist and five digs. Junior outside hitter Annah Shaheen (Portmouth, N.H.) put down 10 kills and got up for a pair of block assists for the Lyons, while senior right side hitter Bailey Madrzyk (Barrington, Ill.) spiked for nine kills and picked up a dig. Senior setter Hannah George (Duxbury, Mass.) set for a season-high 33 assists and added nine digs and two blocks, while senior libero Sophie Wilhelm (Saunderstown, R.I.) picked up a season-best 23 digs and fired an ace. Senior defensive specialist Ariana Rajaee (Marlborough, Conn.) fired a match-high four aces to go with 10 digs. 

Senior setter Catherine Reynolds (Concord, N.H.) registered a triple-double to lead WPI with 11 kills, 21 assists and 12 digs, while owning a .321 hitting percentage. She also served up an ace and got up for a block assist. Junior outside hitter Olivia Deckers (Marlboro, Mass.) swung for nine kills to fall one short of a double-double with 14 digs as well. Junior libero Jia Yazon (South Windsor, Conn.) got down for 16 digs and also fired an ace.

The opening set was incredibly tight with the teams separated by two points for almost the entirety of the frame until the Engineers took a 21-18 lead following a kill from senior middle hitter Natalia Wierzbicki (Wareham, Mass.). Wheaton scored five of the next six points, including three straight, to take a 23-22 edge. The teams were later knotted at 24-24, before first year outside hitter Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) and Shaheen put away consecutive kills to give the Lyons the set and a 1-0 match lead.

Wheaton looked to have the second set in hand following a 12-4 run, fueled by three kills from Bailey and a pair of aces from junior setter Julianna Flack (Saint Petersbury, Fla.), to take a 19-11 lead, but WPI stormed back with nine unanswered points to take a 20-19 edge. Reynolds put down a pair of kills during the run for the visitors. The rest of the set featured eight ties, including a 26-26 deadlock before the Lyons took the final two points (28-26) to take a 2-0 match lead.

Wheaton pulled to within 11-10 in the third frame, before the Engineers put together a 9-2 stretch to take a 20-12 lead. WPI maintained its cushion and cruised to a 25-18 third set triumph.

The Lyons owned an early 10-8 lead in the fourth set, but five straight points from the Engineers gave them a 13-10 margin. Madrzyk spiked for a klll to bring Wheaton to within two points, a margin that would not increase for the remainder of the set. WPI held the Lyons off until it held set point at 24-22. Wheaton's ability to hang around for the remainder of the set paid off after it reeled off the final four points of the frame, including the last two from Lyon, to take the set, 26-24, and win the match.

Wheaton returns to action on Thursday, September 22 when it hosts Endicott College at Emerson Gymnasium for a 7:00 p.m. start, while the Engineers travel to Cambridge, Mass. to take on NEWMAC foe Massachusetts Institute of Technology on September 24 at 12:00 p.m.