SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team fell at host Springfield College, 3-0 (26-24, 25-14, 25-12), this evening in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference opener at Blake Arena in Springfield, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 7-2 overall and 0-1 in league play, while the Pride win their seventh in a row to improve to 11-1 and 1-0.
Springfield hit .247 for the match, including .500 in the third set to take the match, while holding Wheaton in the negative in the final two frames.
Sophomore outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) led the Lyons with a match-high 11 kills on .212 hitting mark and added two aces, a block assist and four digs. Sophomore outside hitter Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) contributed with six kills, nine digs, a block assist and an ace, while senior setter Julianna Flack (Saint Petersburg, Fla.) set for 20 assists, fired a pair of aces, got up for a block assist and picked up three digs. First year libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) led all players with 13 digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) paced the Pride with 10 kills on a stunning .533 hitting percentage to go with four total blocks, including three assists and junior outside hitter Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.) swung for eight kills fueled by a .500 hitting mark after committing just one attack error. She also scooped up seven digs and served for four aces. First year setter Tori Colosimo (Fairport, N.Y.) directed the offense with 25 assists, and added six digs, three block assists and an ace. Graduated student libero Ally Townsend (Hummelstown, Pa.) got down for 12 digs and fired a pair of aces.
Wheaton led for most of the opening set with an 8-4 margin, before Springfield later cut the deficit to 17-16. The Lyons scored six of the next eight points, including an ace, a block assist and a kill from Henn, to take a 23-18 lead. The Pride rallied for six straight points to take its first lead of the frame at 24-23. Lyon spiked for a kill to pull Wheaton even at 24-24, before Voltz and junior outside hitter Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) each put away a kill to give the home team the set at 26-24.
Wheaton was unable to put up the same fight as the first set, scoring a combined 26 points in the final two frames.
Springfield got out to an 18-10 cushion in the second set, before the Lyons received a pair of kills from Henn to spark a 3-1 burst to make it 19-13. The Pride scored the next five points, including a kill and an ace from Donahue, to take a 24-13 lead. The teams traded points with Springfield earning a 25-14 second set win and a 2-0 match lead.
Wheaton scored three of the first four points of the third set, including a kill from first year Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.), to take a 3-1 lead. The Lyons held a 5-4 edge, before the teams were knotted at 6-6. The Pride put together an 8-2 run punctuated by an ace from Townsend, to take a 14-8 advantage. Springfield later maintained a 16-10 cushion, before ripping off seven unanswered points to increase its lead to 23-10. Both sides scored two points apiece to close out the match, including the final kill from Pride sophomore middle blocker Olivia Gentry (Cincinnati, Ohio) to give the home team the match victory.
Wheaton returns to the court on Saturday, September 23 when it travels to Wellesley, Mass. to play NEWMAC rival Wellesley College at 1:00 p.m., while Springfield heads to Cambridge, Mass. on the same day for an 11:00 a.m. match with conference foe Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
