NORTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team was edged by visiting Clark University (Mass.) 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-23, 26-24, 15-11) this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons fall to 6-12 overall and 0-5 in league play, while the Cougars improve to 9-7 and 3-2.
Both teams hit well in the match with Clark posting a .268 hitting mark and Wheaton swinging at .249. The Cougars hit .244 or better in four of five sets.
Junior outside hitter Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) led the Lyons with a career-best 22 kills fueled by a .255 hitting clip to go with 15 digs for her fourth double-double of the year in addition to firing a season-high five aces and getting up for a pair of block assists. Sophomore right side hitter Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.) swung for 21 kills and committed just three errors, en-route to a .409 hitting effort to go with six digs, while junior middle hitter Hollis Hanson (Parker, Colo.) put down 10 kills and picked up five digs. Sophomore setter Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) led all players with 36 assists in addition to nine digs and an ace, while sophomore libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) got down for 14 digs and fired three aces.
Graduate student outside hitter Victoria Pastor (Guayanabo, P.R.) put down a career-high 24 kills to lead Clark and owned a .298 hitting rate to go with nine digs and an ace, while graduate student Sofia Scherrer del Llano (Guayanabo, P.R.) put away 13 kills on a potent .364 hitting mark in addition to picking up eight digs and firing an ace. Senior setter Yvanna Torres (San Juan, P.R.) set for 28 assists and added five aces and eight digs. Junior libero Yumeng Liu (Beijing Shi) came up with a match-high 23 digs.
Wheaton won the first two sets to take what seemed to be a commanding 2-0 match lead, but the Cougars grinded out the next two frames to tie the match, before coming away with a fifth-set win for the match victory,
Clark took the largest lead of any set for the night with a 13-7 advantage midway through the opening set, behind a pair of kills from Pastor and first year outside hitter Isabella Alcott (Maple Grove, Minn.). The Cougars later maintained a 15-9 margin, before the Lyons roared back with seven of the next eight points, including a kill and an ace from Henn, to knot the match at 16-16. Graduate student outside hitter Camille Flurry (Athens, Ga.) put down a kill to give Clark a 20-19 edge, but Wheaton scored four of the next five points, including a pair of aces from sophomore defensive specialist Arianna Tanksley (Chesapeake, Va.), to take a 23-21 lead. The Cougars pulled even at 23-23, before Henn tallied the final two kills of the frame to give the Lyons the opening set.
Wheaton methodically built an 18-12 lead, capped by one of Mazzanti's eight kills in the set, and later owned a 21-15 cushion. Orban registered the final kill of the set to give the home team the set (25-20) and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Neither team led by more than three points in the third set, which featured 13 ties. The foes were deadlocked at 19-19, before Clark scored the next three points on its way to a 23-20 advantage. The Lyons later cut the deficit to 24-23, before Pastor gave the Cougars another life with a kill to end the frame.
The fourth set was just as tight as the one before it with 11 ties and neither team boasting more than a three-point lead. Hanson put down a kill to give Wheaton an early 8-5 lead, before Clark put together an 8-2 run to take a 13-10 margin. The Cougars later maintained a 17-14 cushion, but the Lyons battled back with five of the next six points, capped by a Hanson kill, to take a 19-18 edge. Henn put Wheaton just two points away from taking the match at 23-22 with a kill late in the frame. A kill from Pastor coupled with an ace from Torres gave the visitors set point, before a kill from Lyon junior middle hitter Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) pulled the home team even at 24-24. Scherrer del Llano and Pastor dashed Wheaton's hopes for the victory with the final two kills of the set for Clark to send the match to a fifth frame.
The Cougars got out to a 10-4 lead behind a trio of kills from Pastor, but the Lyons punched back with five of the next six points, including a pair of kills from Mazzanti, to cut the deficit to 11-9 for Wheaton. A kill from Henn kept it a two-point set at 12-10, but Clark closed out the set and the match with three of the final four points.
The Cougars return to the court on Thursday, October 10 when they host cross-town rival Worcester State University at 7:00 p.m., while the Lyons head to Dudley, Mass. to take on Nichols College on the same day at the same time.
