NORTON, Mass. — Sophomore outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) tallied 21.5 points, including 19 kills and senior setter Julianna Flack (Saint Petersburg, Fla.) finished one short of the school record with 10 aces to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team to a 3-1 (18-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-12) victory over visiting Mount Holyoke College 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 10-6 overall and 2-4 in NEWMAC play, while MHC dips to 8-10 and 1-5.
Wheaton owned a .240 hitting percentage for the match and fired double-digit (15) aces for the fifth straight contest and 11th this season.
Flack served for 10 aces to fall just one shy of the school standard of 11 set by Kim Buschenfeldt vs. Bridgewater State University on September 23, 1991. The setter also finished with 38 assists tonight and added four digs and a block assist for the home Lyons. Lyon swung for a .357 hitting mark to go with a pair of aces, three digs and a block assist. Sophomore middle hitter Hollis Hanson (Parker, Colo.) led all players with a .500 hitting percentage to fuel a 10-kill effort, while classmate Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) spiked for 10 kills and picked up 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. First year libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) got down for a match-high 14 digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) led Mount Holyoke with 12 kills and added six digs and two block assists, while sophomore middle hitter Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) registered nine kills and committed just one error to ring up an efficient .444 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) set for 30 assists in addition to five digs and an ace and first year libero Kyra Staples (Chatham, Ill.) picked up 13 digs and fired three aces.
MHC got off to a hot start, scoring six of the first seven points to open the match as part of a 16-6 run, led by two kills each from Rimando and first year middle hitter Katie Frank (Prairieville, La.). Wheaton scored three straight, with a pair of kills from Lyon and an ace from Hochberg, to close to within 16-9, but it was as close as the home team would get. Mount Holyoke looked to put the set away at set point (24-12), but Henn put down a pair of kills to help the Lyons cut the deficit to 24-15, before Barton ended the frame with a kill for MHC.
Wheaton was the team to catch fire to start the second set, reeling off nine straight points, including three aces from Flack and two kills from Lyon. Mount Holyoke countered with five unanswered points, paced by a pair of aces from Staples, to cut the margin to 9-5. Hanson swung for three kills during an 8-2 burst for Wheaton to give it a 17-7 advantage. The Lyons maintained an 18-8 cushion, before scoring five of the next six points to take their largest lead at 23-11. Sophomore middle hitter Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) spiked for a kill to give Wheaton the set and tie the match at 1-1.
MHC looked determined to make it a seesaw affair with a 10-5 start to set number three, but the home Lyons had other ideas. Wheaton ripped off nine straight points as part of a 15-2 stretch, fueled by three aces from Flack and a trio of kills from Wingler, to take a 20-12 lead. Lyon put down the final two kills of the frame to give the Lyons a 25-18 set victory and a 2-1 match lead.
Wheaton raced out to an 11-4 lead in the fourth frame, thanks to three kills from Henn. Mount Holyoke closed to within 12-8, backed by two kills from Rimando. The Lyons effectively put the match out of reach with another nine-point run, including four aces from Flack to keep the home team's momentum going and give it a 21-8 advantage. Hanson ended the night with a kill to give Wheaton the set at 25-12.
The Lyons return to action on Saturday, October 14 for a tri-match with NEWMAC rival Smith College at 11:00 a.m. and the Senior Day contest with Johnson & Wales University at 3:00 p.m. MHC returns to the court on the same day with a 1:00 p.m. home tilt with conference foe Springfield College.
