NORTON, Mass. – Junior outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) tallied 27.5 points, including 21 kills and six aces to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team over visiting Simmons University, 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24, 15-10) this evening at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons have won three of their last four and improve to 10-18, while the Sharks fall to 9-12.
Wheaton hit a healthy .262 for the match, including .407 in the second set and .412 in the deciding frame, while Simmons owned a .248 clip, including .320 in the fourth set.
The teams combined for 26 aces, including 14 for the Lyons.
Lyon hit .311 and added nine digs and a block assist for Wheaton, while junior outside hitter Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) put down 15 kills on a .278 hitting clip in addition to nine digs, three block assists and a pair of aces. Junior middle hitter Hollis Hanson (Parker, Colo.) swung for 11 kills backed by a .280 hitting mark and added two digs. Sophomore libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) picked up 11 digs and sophomore setter Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) set for 28 assists to go with nine digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Hannah Pridgeon (Winter Garden, Fla.) put away 20 kills and hit .261 to go with two aces and four digs to lead the Sharks. Graduate student outside hitter April Beatty (Rochester, N.H.) posted a triple-double of 11 kills, 16 assists and 12 digs in addition to firing an ace and senior middle hitter Meghan Doxsee (Killingworth, Conn.) contributed with 10.5 points, including six kills on a blistering .667 hitting mark to go with four aces, two digs and a block assist. Sophomore setter Alicia Beatty (Rochester, N.H.) directed the offense with 19 assists, six digs and two aces and sophomore libero Carolina Rodriguez (Carolina, Puerto Rico) got down for a match-high 22 digs and added two aces and eight assists.
Simmons won the first and third sets to hold one-set leads during the match, before the Lyons took the final two sets to win the contest.
Wheaton took an early 5-3 lead in the final set, before the Sharks scored six of the next seven points, including a pair of aces from Rodriguez, to take a 9-6 lead. The Lyons closed out the match with a dominant 9-1 run, fueled by two kills and an ace from both Lyon and first year setter Elena Timo (Bourne, Mass.), to give Wheaton the frame at 15-10 and the match.
Simmons owned a 6-5 edge, following a kill from junior outside hitter Kate Petrosso (Attleboro, Mass.) to open the match in the first set. The Lyons tallied seven of the next eight points, led by a pair of aces from Henn, to take a 12-7 advantage. Doxsee put down a kill to pull the Sharks within 15-11, before Wheaton countered with three straight points, capped by a kill from Lyon, to give the home team its biggest lead of the set at 18-11. Wheaton later maintained a 22-18 margin after another kill from Lyon, but Simmons ripped off seven straight points, including two kills from Pridgeon, to win the set, 25-22, and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Wheaton opened a 6-3 margin in the second set, paced by a kill and an ace from Lyon. The Lyons maintained their lead for the majority of the set until Doxsee fired an ace to give the Sharks their first edge (15-14) since the beginning of the frame. Another ace from graduate student middle hitter Zoe Chatterton (Portland, Ore.) pulled the visitors even at 18-18, before Wheaton used a 7-3 burst, led by a pair of kills from Henn, to close the set at 25-21 and even the match at 1-1.
Wheaton held a 7-3 margin to begin the middle frame. Simmons ripped off the next five points, including a kill and an ace from April Beatty, to take an 8-7 edge. The Lyons answered by putting together an 8-3 stretch, led by three kills from Lyon, to take a 15-11 lead. Simmons turned in an 11-2 run to overcome Wheaton and take a 22-17 advantage. The Lyons scored four of the next five points, capped by a Lyon kill to cut the deficit to 22-21 and later stayed within a point at 24-23, but Pridgeon put down the final kill of the set to deliver the frame to the Sharks, 25-23, for a 2-1 match lead.
Simmons faced a 6-5 deficit, before scoring the next four points, including two kills from Pridgeon, to take a 9-6 advantage. Alicia Beatty fired an ace to maintain a 13-10 margin for the Sharks, but Wheaton reeled off seven unanswered points, including a pair of aces from Lyon, to take a 17-13 lead. Junior middle hitter Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) put Wheaton a point away from the set with a kill to make it 24-21, but Simmons pulled even at 24-24 with the next three points, including a pair of kills from Pridgeon. The Lyons tallied the final two points to force the fifth set.
Wheaton returns to the court on Tuesday, November 5 when it travels to Boston, Mass. to take on New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference foe Emerson College at 7:00 p.m., while the Sharks head to Providence, R.I. to play Johnson & Wales University at 1:00 p.m.
