CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team was defeated by host No. 19 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-15), this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Rockwell Cage in Cambridge, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 11-8 overall and 3-5 in league action, while the Engineers win their 12th straight match to improve to 21-3 and 7-1.
MIT's stifling defense was too much for Wheaton to overcome with negative hitting percentages in every set. The Engineers finished the match with a .238 hitting mark.
Wheaton was led by sophomore outside hitter Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) with a career-high six aces to go with six kills, a block assist and nine digs. Classmate Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) contributed with seven kills, two digs and a block assist. Senior setter Julianna Flack (Saint Petersburg, Fla.) set for 18 assists, fired three aces and picked up three digs, while first year libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) got down for eight digs.
Junior right side hitter Lauren Keller (Albuquerque, N.M.) tied Lyon with a match-high seven kills for MIT and senior middle hitter Consecrata Rozario (Cary, N.C.) spiked for six kills on a .417 hitting clip to go with a pair of block assists. Senior setter Emily Cheng (Sunnyvale, Calif.) directed the offense with 25 assists and scooped up four digs and junior libero Ottavia Personeni (Bethesda, Md.) picked up a match-high 11 digs in addition to serving for two aces.
The teams were tied at 8-8 in the opening set, before the Lyons put together a 13-4 run, led by a kill and a pair of aces from Henn, to give Wheaton a 21-12 cushion. The Engineers regrouped and ripped off 13 unanswered points, including four kills from Keller, to close out the set and take a 1-0 match lead.
MIT used its momentum to secure the next two sets for the match victory.
The Lyons jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two blocks by sophomore middle hitter Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) and two aces from Henn. MIT responded with a kill by sophomore middle hitter Ali Gibbs (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) that ignited an 18-5 run. Wheaton picked up five of the next six points, capped by a kill from Lyon, to narrow the gap to 19-14. A Keller kill and a Wheaton hitting error created some breathing room before both teams traded points, resulting in a 25-19 win for the hosts.
Trailing early in the frame, a kill by Rozario sparked a 15-5 run which gave the Engineers a 16-8 advantage. A kill from Henn kicked off a 5-1 burst by the visitors, that included a pair of aces from Flack, to pull the Lyons to within 17-13. It was as close as Wheaton would get, before MIT put together an 8-2 run to wrap up the match.
The Lyons return to the court on October 20 when they head to Waterville, Maine to take on Colby College at 6:00 p.m., while the Engineers travel to Williamstown, Mass. to play Williams College on the same night at 7:00 p.m.
