WORCESTER, Mass. — Senior setter Julianna Flack (Saint Petersburg, Fla.) set for a career-high 57 assists and fired four aces to help the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team to a 3-2 (17-25, 25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 15-11) victory over host Clark University (Mass.) in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference match this evening at Kneller Gymnasium in Worcester, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 9-5 overall and 1-4 in league action, while the Cougars dip to 10-6 and 2-3.
Wheaton won a critical second set that saw them two points away from being down two sets to zero in the match, but scored seven straight points to take the frame at 25-23 and tie the match at 1-1.
The Lyons were big at the net with 10 blocks and fired 12 aces from behind the service line to go with a .185 hitting mark as a team.
Flack's assist total is the seventh-most in a match in school history. She also added two block assists, a pair of kills and four digs for Wheaton, while sophomore outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) swung for 19 kills and picked up 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the year to go with two block assists and an ace. Classmate Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) collected 17.5 points, including 14 kills, two aces and two blocks, including a solo. She also picked up 11 digs to match Lyon with seven double-doubles for the season. Sophomore middle hitter Hollis Hanson (Parker, Colo.) was efficient with a .308 hitting mark to fuel a career-high 12 kills, while classmates Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) and Saskia Habibe (Miami, Fla.) each spiked for eight kills. Habibe also scooped up eight digs and got up for three block assists and Wingler assisted on five blocks. First year libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) got down for a personal-best 28 digs and served up two aces.
Senior outside hitter Victoria Pastor (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) led Clark with 17 kills and added 14 digs and three block solos and senior middle blocker Sheyenne Williams (Bloomfield, N.J.) put away 14 kills on a .258 hitting clip to go with four blocks, including three solos. Junior setter Yvanna Torres (San Juan, Puerto Rico) directed the offense for the Cougars with 39 assists and picked up 14 digs, while sophomore defensive specialist Yumeng Liu (Beijing, China) registered 21 digs and four aces.
Neither team led by more than two points midway through the opening set with Clark owning a 12-11 edge. The Cougars extended their lead to 17-13, but the Lyons closed to within 17-16 following an ace from Henn. Clark closed out the frame with an 8-1 run, paced by a pair of aces from Liu and two kills from Pastor.
Following four straight points, the Cougars took a 13-7 cushion in the second set and later owned a 17-13 lead. Wheaton cut the deficit to one with the next three points, including a pair of kills from Lyon to make it 17-16. Clark looked primed to take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 23-18 lead in the frame, before the Lyons roared back with seven unanswered points, including a pair of aces from Flack to give the visitors a 25-23 set win.
Wheaton carried its momentum into the second frame with a 25-22 win to take a 2-1 match lead. The Cougars held an early 7-5 lead, before the Lyons put together an 11-2 stretch, backed by four kills from Lyon, to give them a 16-9 cushion. Wheaton took its largest lead of the set at 22-13 following a kill from Henn, but Clark scored eight of the next nine points to climb to within 23-21. Williams spiked for three kills during the run. The Lyons were able to hold off the comeback and take the frame at 25-22 to command a 2-1 edge in the match.
Wheaton faced an 11-9 deficit in the fourth set, but the Cougars went on a 7-3 burst and never led by less than three points for the rest of the set after taking an 18-12 advantage. A kill from Wingler pulled the Lyons to within 22-19, but Clark held strong to win the frame, 25-21, to force the fifth and deciding set.
The Cougars scored three of the set's first four points to take a 3-1 lead, but Wheaton scored eight of the next 10, including a kill each and a big block assist from Wingler and Habibe, to take a 9-5 margin. Clark closed to within 9-7, but it was as close as the home team would get for the remainder of the set. Henn put down a kill to end the match and give the Lyons a 15-11 set victory.
Wheaton returns to the court on Thursday, October 5 when it travels to Newton, Mass. to play Lasell University at 7:00 p.m., while the Cougars take on crosstown rival Worcester State University on the same night at the same time.
