OSWEGO, N.Y. – Sophomore Saskia Habibe (Miami, Fla.) finished an assist short of recording her first collegiate triple-double with 12 kills and 10 digs to help the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team post a 3-1 (25-23, 25-27, 25-18, 25-19) victory over Utica University in the Oswego State Invitational at Max Ziel Gymnasium in Oswego, N.Y. on the campus of host Oswego State University of New York.
The Lyons improve to 1-0 on the season, while the Pioneers slip to 0-1 in the season opener for both schools.
Wheaton hit .200 or better in three of four sets and posted a .192 mark for the match.
Habibe missed most of her rookie campaign with an injury for the Lyons, but opened her sophomore season in fine fashion with a formidable .320 hitting percentage to go with nine assists and two aces. Classmate Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) led all hitters with 14 kills and added 10 digs and a pair of aces for her fifth career double-double, while sophomore Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) matched her career best with 13 kills and picked up 14 digs for her first career double-double and added two aces and a pair of block assists. Senior setter Julianna Flack (Saint Petersburg, Fla.) directed the offense with 33 assists to go with eight digs and two aces, while first year libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) got down for 24 digs in addition to an ace in her collegiate debut.
Graduate student outside hitter Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, N.Y.) led the Utica attack with 10 kills and added 17 digs for a double-double. First year outside hitter Megan Wright (Clay Center, Kan.) spiked for eight kills on a .250 hitting mark and picked up 13 digs. Senior setter Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, N.Y.) set for 22 assists, fired two aces and scooped up five digs.
The teams traded the first sets by just two points, before Wheaton pulled away with two convincing sets.
The Lyons showed resilience in the opening set, trailing 12-11 before the Pioneers ripped off six straight points, including an ace and a kill from Maggiore, to take an 18-11 lead. Utica was just two points away from taking a 1-0 match lead at 23-18, before Wheaton put together a furious comeback with seven unanswered points. Henn put away three kills and senior middle hitter Megan Kelleher (Wethersfield, Conn.) ended it with a kill to take the frame at 25-23.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair with the Lyons holding the largest lead of the frame at 10-7. Sophomore middle hitter Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) gave Wheaton a 22-20 margin, but the Pioneers scored four of the next five points to take a 24-23 lead. The Lyons later knotted the score at 25-25. Utica scored the final two points of the frame to tie the match at 1-1.
The Pioneers took an early 12-10 lead in the third set, before Wheaton ripped off five straight points as part of a 10-1 run, including a pair of kills from Lyon, to give the Lyons a 20-13 lead. Utica closed to within 22-18, but Wheaton scored the final three points to take the set and a 2-1 match lead.
Sophomore middle hitter Hollis Hanson (Parker, Colo.) gave the Lyons a 9-4 lead in the fourth set, but the Pioneers shot back with a 9-3 stretch, fueled by two kills and a pair of aces from Wright to take a 13-12 edge. The teams traded four-point bursts to keep Utica in the lead at 17-16, but Wheaton scored seven straight points and nine of the final 11 points of the frame to take the set, 25-19 for the match win.
Both teams return to action in Oswego tomorrow. The Lyons play host Oswego State at 11:00 a.m. and Marywood University at 1:00 p.m., while the Pioneers play Marywood at 3:00 p.m. and Oswego at 5:00 p.m.
