NORTON, Mass. – Junior outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) averaged six kills a set to finish with a match-high 18 to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team over visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-15), this afternoon at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons close out their season at 11-19 overall and 2-9 in league play, while the Engineers finish at 7-19 and 0-11 in the season finale for both schools.
Wheaton hit .278 for the match, including .333 and 406 in the final two frames, while WPI owned a .165 mark for the afternoon. The Lyons also held a 12-5 advantage in service aces.
Lyon was outstanding with a formidable .448 hitting clip to go with five digs and two aces for Wheaton, while junior outside hitter Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) put down nine kills on a .250 swing rate in addition to three digs, two block assists and a pair of aces. Junior middle hitter Hollis Hanson (Parker, Colo.) spiked for seven kills behind a .385 hitting mark and sophomore setter Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) led all playmakers with 24 assists and added seven digs and an ace. Sophomore libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) got down for a match-best 16 digs.
The Engineers were led by sophomore middle hitter Zeala VanDamme (San Diego, Calif.) with six kills fueled by a .364 hitting percentage to go with two digs, an ace and a block assist, while junior outside hitter Fiona Gillis (Manchester, N.H.) put away six kills as well and hit .312 for the match. She also added a pair of digs and got up for three block assists. Junior libero Victoria Escuer (Caracas, Venezuela) led WPI's defensive effort with eight digs and also fired an ace. Senior setter Lily Eldridge (Danves, Mass.) set for 10 assists in addition to picking up five digs and recording a block assist.
The Lyons opened the match with a 10-5 lead in the first set, before the Engineers shaved the deficit to 12-10 after a 7-2 stretch. Wheaton tallied the next four points, including a pair of kills from Henn, to increase its lead to 16-10 and later maintained a 22-16 advantage. WPI ripped off six unanswered points to pull even at 22-22, but the Lyons scored three of the final four points, including the final kill from Hanson, to give the home team the set at 25-23 and a 1-0 match lead.
The teams were knotted at 6-6 early in the middle set following a Hanson kill, before Wheaton scored six of the next seven points, led by a trio of aces from first year setter Elena Timo (Bourne, Mass.), to take a 12-7 margin. Senior middle hitter Emily Hudson (Melrose, Mass.) put down a kill to cut the deficit to 14-11 for the Engineers, before the Lyons put together a 6-2 stretch to expand their cushion to 20-13. Wheaton maintained the status quo for the remainder of the frame, capped by a kill from Lyon, resulting in a 25-17 win and a two-set match lead.
The Lyons scored the first three points as part of a 7-3 lead to open the third set, paced by a kill and an ace from Henn. Gillis later pulled WPI within 9-6, but Wheaton effectively put the frame away with a 9-1 blistering run, fueled by five kills from Lyon to take a commanding 18-7 advantage. The Engineers countered with five of the next six points, including a pair of aces from junior right side hitter Audrey Stroupe (Leesburg, Va.), to close the gap to 19-12. Wheaton put itself on the brink of victory with the next five points to make it 24-12. WPI briefly staved off defeat with the next three points, before junior middle hitter Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) swung for the final kill of the match to deliver the frame (25-15) and the match (3-0) to the Lyons.
