HARTFORD, Conn. -- Three Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball hitters totaled 12 kills, but the Lyons ultimately fell to host University of Hartford 3-2 (25-17, 25-14, 18-25, 20-25, 15-12) at Chase Arena in West Hartford, Conn. on Friday evening.

The loss sees the Lyons fall to 10-15 overall on the season, while the Hawks improve to 7-13 on the year.

Senior outside hitter Celina Henn (Atwater Calif.), senior outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) and junior pin hitter Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.) each finished the match with 12 kills for the Lyons. First year setter Emily Cordell (Crawfordville, Fla.) set a new career high with 25 assists, and junior libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) held down the defense with a team-leading 12 digs. 

Wheaton had a slow start to their second match of the day as it trailed 10-3. Hartford was in control, staying in front of the Lyons despite a pair of kills by Mazzanti to get Wheaton within five points of its opposition. The Hawks responded with a 7-2 run of their own, driving the score up to 22-12 in their favor. Henn came alive late in the first set with three kills, but the flurry arrived too late and the Lyons dropped the first set 25-17.

Hartford would be first to 10 points once again in the second set, but Wheaton was a bit closer the second time around. Senior middle hitter Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) set the tone with a pair of kills to put her team within four points at 10-6. A 7-3 run would undo that hard work, as the Hawks soared ahead to a 19-11 lead. The hosts closed out the set on a 6-2 run, downing the Lyons 25-14 to take a 2-0 lead in the match,

With no margin for error, Wheaton found its rhythm in the third set. Lyon, Wingler and sophomore right side Haley Jenkins (Dartmouth, Mass.) each got a kill as Wheaton took an early 4-3 lead. Both sides exchanged errors before Henn and Mazzanti both found the floor to put the Lyons ahead 9-6. After Hartford closed the gap with a pair of points, Wheaton ripped off a 6-2 run highlighted by back-to-back Lyon kills to take its biggest lead to that point in the match; 15-10 over the Hawks. Hartford closed within a point once more, but the Lyons were able to go on another run to preserve their lead at 23-18. Two subsequent errors by the Hawks gave Wheaton its first set of the day, making it a 2-1 match heading into the fourth.

The Hawks jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set, carrying it all the way to a 12-8 advantage over their guests. Wingler, Jenkins and Henn each fired off a kill to put their team within a point of the lead. A three-point run with kills by Mazzanti, Lyon and sophomore outside Katie de la Pena (Castle Rock, Colo.) gave the Lyons their first lead since the opening phase of the set at 15-14. Hartford found a kill to tie it at 15, but Wheaton responded with a 9-3 run to put it at set point, 24-18. Jenkins would have the honor of closing out the set, finishing with an emphatic kill to down the Hawks 25-20 and force a winner-take-all fifth set.

The most important set of the day started with promise for the Lyons, as Cordell opened with an ace and junior defensive specialist Arianna Tanksley (Chesapeake, Va.) got her first kill of the match to put Wheaton ahead 3-0. Hartford responded with a five-point run of their own, taking the lead from the Lyons. However, they were unable to hang on as a pair of errors and a Mazzanti kill put Wheaton back in front at 6-5. Lyon rifled a kill and Hochberg followed her up with an ace to put the Lyons further ahead at 8-6, but their lead was erased following a three-point run by the Hawks. Lyon knotted the set with her 12th kill of the day, before Hartford immediately put the ball into the net to once again relinquish the lead to their visitors. This time, the Hawks delivered a finishing blow as they went on a 5-2 run to take the set 15-12 and the match 3-2. 

Wheaton heads back to Norton to take on the Lions of Emerson College for a weekday NEWMAC showdown in Emerson Gymnasium on Tuesday at 7:00 pm. Hartford travels to Huntington Avenue in Boston for a match at Wentworth Institute of Technology on Saturday, November 1 at 11:00 am.