NORTON, Mass. - The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team swept Nichols College behind senior outside hitter Sydney Lyon's (Weston, Conn.) 10-kill night as the Lyons downed the Bison 3-0 on Thursday evening in Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus.

The win sees Wheaton improve to 11-16 on the season, while Nichols falls to 8-16 with the loss.

Lyon paced the Wheaton offense with 10 kills on .328 hitting, making six digs and adding a pair of block assists. Senior outside hitter Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) was just behind her with nine kills on a stunning .667 hitting, adding four service aces and three digs to round out a great day. Junior opposite hitter Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.) finished with five kills on .444 hitting. Junior libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) led the defense with 12 digs and sophomore setter Elena Timo (Bourne, Mass.) set up the most assists for Wheaton with 11.

After Nichols took the first point of the match, Wheaton wasted no time in reasserting its control of its game. The Lyons sent a strong message with a six-point run to jump to a 6-1 lead. Henn paced the offense over that opening stretch, tallying two aces to help her team in front. A four-point run immediately after was highlighted by a pair of Hochberg aces, and in the blink of an eye the Lyons were ahead 10-2. An 8-3 run by Wheaton saw its control over the game continue as Henn put down two kills and the Lyons took full advantage of a number of Nichols errors. Hochberg fired home two more aces as the home side drove the score up to 22-10. Wheaton finished the set off with ease as Lyon put down a kill to take the frame 25-12.

Wheaton faced a 4-1 deficit in the beginning of the second set, but two more aces by Henn and an attacking error by the Bison put the set at level pegging once more at 4-4. Each side exchanged errors as neither team was able to keep the ball in system, and the score stayed square all the way up to 12-12. Henn was the difference maker as the Lyons finally took the lead, putting down two quick kills to give Wheaton the advantage at 14-12. Nichols managed to claw back in front with three points of their own, but kills from Lyon and sophomore middle Haley Jenkins (Dartmouth, Mass.) put Wheaton ahead 17-15. After a service error and a Nichols kill tied the game at 20-20, the Lyons snapped off five points in a row to take the frame. Henn had two kills, while junior setter Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) put down a kill of her own to help Wheaton take a 2-0 set lead. 

The third set opened in a very similar manner to the first. Wheaton took the first point this time, and did not look back as it sprinted ahead to a 10-3 lead. Lyon had three kills in the opening phase of the set, while Jenkins added one of her own to add onto a number of Nichols errors. A second massive run saw the Lyons score 10 more points while allowing only one from Nichols. Henn had two kills while senior middle Hollis Hanson (Parker, Colo.) had a kill of her own to help Wheaton take a commanding 20-5 lead. Nichols managed to find a few points down the stretch, but two kills each from Lyon and Mazzanti saw the home team reach 25 points to take the set 25-9 and the match 3-0. 

Wheaton heads to Worcester for its final road match of the regular season as it takes on Worcester Polytechnic Institute in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference match on Wednesday, November 5 at 6:00 pm. Nichols heads home to Dudley, Mass. as it gets ready to take on Gordon College on Wednesday at 7:00 pm.