PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Senior outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) put down a match-high 13 kills to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-18) victory over Nazareth University this afternoon in a neutral match played at the Wildcat Center on the campus of host Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I.
The Lyons improve to 1-0 in their season opener, while the Golden Flyers fall to 0-3.
Wheaton dominated from the service line, owning a 16-5 advantage and hit .214 for the match, while holding Nazareth to a .127 hitting mark.
Lyon hit .233, while adding four aces as part of a match-high 17.5 points. She also added nine digs. Sophomore outside hitter Katie de la Pena (Castle Rock, Colo.) matched her career-high with seven kills on a .417 hitting percentage, while senior middle hitter Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) chipped in with six kills, two aces and three block assists to go with a .400 hitting mark. Junior setter Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) fired a career-best five aces, picked up six digs and set for 15 assists.
Junior outside hitter Chelsea Plummer (Waterford, N.Y.) led the Golden Flyers with six kills on a .235 hitting percentage and added four digs, while sophomore middle blocker Alana Lucey (Fairport, N.Y.) contributed with five kills, a block assists and a dig. Senior outside hitter Leah Fusilli (Penfield, N.Y.) led all players with 12 digs to go with four kills and an ace.
Nazareth jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the opening set, before Wheaton put together an 11-4 stretch, fueled by four kills from Lyon, to take a 15-13 margin. Wingler put down a kill to maintain the lead at 21-19, but the Golden Flyers scored four of the next five points to take a 23-22 edge. The Lyons closed out the frame with the last three points, including a pair of aces from Orbán to secure the win and give Wheaton a 1-0 match lead.
Orban continued her serving prowess into the second set, drilling a pair of aces as part of a 5-0 Lyon run to open the frame. Nazareth countered with six unanswered points to take a one-point edge and maintained a 12-11 lead later in the set. Wheaton ripped off six straight points, including a pair of kills from de la Pena, to take a 17-12 cushion. The Golden Flyers closed within one after four straight points and stayed within a point at 18-17. The Lyons held off their foes and scored seven of the final nine points to take the frame at 25-19 for a 2-0 lead.
Despite dropping the first two points of the third set, Wheaton scored seven of the next eight points, including a pair of aces and a kill from Lyon, to take a 7-3 lead. Wheaton later maintained a 12-8 margin, before Nazareth scored four of the next five points to pull within 13-12. The Lyons put distance between themselves and the Golden Flyers with an 8-2 stretch, backed by a kill and two aces from Lyon and three kills from senior outside hitter Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.), to take a comfortable 21-14 cushion. Wheaton took the set at 25-18 to win the match.
The Lyons are right back at it with a match against Johnson & Wales University at 4:00 p.m. to complete the tri-match, while Nazareth is in action again on September 5 when it travels to Arlington, Va. to take on Shenandoah University at 4:00 p.m.
