AMHERST, Mass. — Senior setter Julianna Flack (Saint Petersburg, Fla.) set for 32 assists and fired three aces to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-14) victory over host Amherst College this evening at LeFrak Gymnasium in Amherst, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 7-0 for the year to establish their best start to a season since what could be at least 2005 and possibly longer, while the Mammoths fall to 2-3.
Amherst was limited to just 24 kills on a paltry .016 hitting percentage and managed just one ace, while Wheaton hit .221 for the match.
Flack added eight digs to her night for the Lyons. The sophomore tandem of Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) (16) and Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) (15) combined for 31 kills as the recipients of Flack's setting. Lyon hit .303 for the match and added 12 digs for her fifth double-double of the season, while Henn swung for a match-high 16 kills on a .211 mark and picked up 10 digs for her fourth double-double in 2023. First year libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) was brilliant with 22 digs and added six assists, while first year defensive specialist Ari Tanksley (Chesapeake, Va.) got down for a season-high 15 digs.
First year outside hitter Chideraa Ngwadom (Garner, N.C.) paced the Mammoths with seven kills in addition to seven digs and first year right side hitter Allie McLaughlin (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) contributed with six kills and a pair of digs. Junior libero Lizzie Papalia (Fisherville, Ky.) picked up a match-best 24 digs.
Henn, Lyon and sophomore middle hitter Hollis Hanson (Parker, Colo.) each put down two kills apiece to lead Wheaton to an early 14-9 lead in the opening set. Amherst ripped off seven straight points as part of an 8-1 run capped by a Chloe Chanren (San Francisco, Calif.) kill to take a 17-15 lead. The Lyons responded with five unanswered points to take a 20-17 lead, before the teams were knotted at 23-23. Henn put away a kill and Hanson fired an ace for the final two points to give Wheaton the set at 25-23.
The Lyons seemed to exhale after the first frame and settled down to control both the second and third sets. First year right side hitter Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.) spiked for a pair of kills as part of a 7-2 opening burst for Wheaton in the second frame. The Lyons led by at least four points for the rest of the session and owned a 20-13 cushion after a kill from sophomore Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) later in the set. The Mammoths scored the next three points to pull within 20-16, but it was as close as they could get. Wheaton scored five of the last six points to take the set at 25-17 and a 2-0 margin in the match.
Amherst stayed within 7-6 in the third set, before the Lyons put some space between themselves and their host with an 8-1 stretch that gave them a 15-7 cushion. Wheaton maintained its advantage at 20-13 and closed out the frame in the same fashion as it did in the second set. Henn scored with a pair of kills in a 5-1 spurt that saw the Lyons win the set, 25-14.
Wheaton returns to the court on Saturday, September 16 when it hosts Western New England University in Emerson Gymnasium for an 11:00 a.m. match, before taking on Plymouth State University at 3:00 p.m. as part of a tri-match. The Mammoths travel to Clinton, N.Y. to play Hamilton College on September 15 at 7:00 p.m. in the New England Small College Athletic Conference opener.
