NORTON, Mass. – Senior outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) notched her 1,000th career kill and junior libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) picked up her 1,000th career dig, but the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team was defeated by visiting Babson College, 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-17), this evening in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference opener at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Beavers improve to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in league play, while the Lyons dip to 6-7 and 0-1.
Babson hit .371 for the match and was especially strong in the final three sets, hitting .567 without an attack miscue in the second set, before hitting .294 and .444 in the final two frames. Wheaton was on fire in the opening set, hitting a torrid .619 with just two attack errors and also hit well in the second at .375 with just one error, but was unable to match the Beavers' efficiency in the set.
Lyon put away 12 kills for the Lyons, including her 1,000th career kill to become the seventh player in school history to reach the mark and the first since Lauren Kraus '10 in 2009. Lyon now has 1,007 kills to move past Patti Harrington '95 for sixth all-time at Wheaton. Hochberg finished the match with 20 digs to give her 1,019 for her career. Senior outside hitter Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) put down a team-high 13 kills on a .385 hitting mark to go with four digs, while junior right side hitter Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.) contributed with nine kills on a .350 percentage and added a dig and a block assist. Junior setter Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) directed the offense with a match-high 29 assists, found the floor for four kills, scooped up nine digs and fired an ace.
Sophomore middle blocker Angelina Holm (Denver, Colo.) committed just one attack error and spiked for a career-high 15 kills to lead Babson and added three block assists to go with a dig, while senior outside hitter Isabella Allen (Williamsville, N.Y.) put down 12 kills on a .333 hitting clip in addition to a pair of block assists. Junior setter Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Colo.) set for 28 assists to go with an ace and two block assists and senior libero Sophia Shaw (Novato, Calif.) picked up nine digs, while firing a pair of aces.
The Beavers opened the match with four of the first five points and later owned a 6-3 margin after a Sabrina Frosk (Coppell, Texas) ace. Hochberg picked up her milestone dig during the rally with the score at 4-2. The Lyons ripped off five straight points, behind a pair of aces from junior defensive specialist Arianna Tanksley (Chesapeake, Va.), to take the lead for good at 8-6. Wheaton later took a 17-11 lead, following a kill from Lyon and later held a 22-17 advantage. The Lyons tallied the final three points to take the frame at 25-17.
Both teams swung well in the second frame with 10 ties, before Babson eventually pulled out the set. The teams were deadlocked at 10-10 for the seventh tie of the frame and before that, Lyon put down her 1,000th career kill to even the score at 3-3. Wheaton later scored five unanswered points, including a pair of kills from Mazzanti and two aces from Hochberg, to take a 15-10 margin. The Lyons maintained their cushion at 18-13 after a kill from Orban, but the Beavers responded with seven of the next eight points, including two kills each from Holm and junior outside hitter Hailey Fouche (Montclair, N.J.), to give the visitors a 20-19 edge. Lyon pulled Wheaton even at 22-22 with a kill, before Babson scored three of the final four points to shift the momentum of the match with a 25-23 win.
Henn gave the Lyons an early 7-6 lead, before the Beavers tallied five straight points as part of a 6-1 stretch to give them a 12-8 lead after four kills from Holm. Wheaton put together a 6-2 run to pull even at 14-14, but five unanswered Babson points gave it the lead for good at 19-14. The Lyons later closed within 22-20, but the Beavers scored three of the last four points to take the set at 25-21 and lead the match, 2-1.
Wheaton received a kill from Lyon to give the home team an early 9-6 lead, but Babson scored five of the next six points to pull ahead at 11-10. The Lyons answered with three of the next four points to reclaim the edge at 13-12 after a Henn kill, before the teams were tied at 14-14. The Beavers closed out the frame and the match with a strong 11-3 run for a 25-17 set win.
Wheaton returns to the court on Saturday, September 27 when it heads to Wellesley, Mass. to play conference foe Wellesley College at 1:00 p.m., while Babson travels to Northampton, Mass. to take on Smith College in NEWMAC play on the same day at the same time.
