CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team was overwhelmed by No. 16 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-14), this evening in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference match at Rockwell Cage in Cambridge, Mass.
The Lyons fall to 6-9 overall, including 0-3 in league play, while the Engineers have won four of their last five to improve to 11-3 and 3-0.
MIT hit a formidable .354, including .412 and .464 in the second and third sets, respectively, while Wheaton owned a .156 mark.
Junior right side hitter Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.) led the Lyons with 10 kills on a .400 hitting percentage to go with a pair of digs, while senior outside hitter Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) put down six kills, fired an ace, picked up six digs and got up for a block. First year setter Emily Cordell (Crawfordville, Fla.) set for 13 assists, scooped up four digs and served for an ace and junior libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) came up with 10 digs.
The Engineers' top three hitters were nearly impossible to stop with first year outside hitter Ella Zhou (Beijing, China) swinging for 16 kills in three sets on a .500 hitting mark to go with 12 digs for her seventh double-double of the year, while senior middle hitter Ali Gibbs (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) connected on 13 of 15 swings for an eye-popping .867 hitting mark in addition to getting up for three blocks. Junior right side hitter Eileen Sadati (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) put down 11 kills behind a .308 hitting clip and added a block assist. Junior setter Kayleigh May (Camarillo, Calif.) was extremely efficient, setting for 39 assists to go with 10 digs and an ace.
MIT took an early 10-5 lead in the opening frame, led by three kills from Gibbs, before an ace from Henn cut the deficit to 12-8 for Wheaton. Zhou fueled a 7-2 burst to increase the home team's margin to 19-10, and a kill from sophomore outside hitter Jessie Trapp (Elmhurst, Ill.) helped the Engineers maintain a 22-14 cushion. The Lyons roared back with a 7-2 run, capped by a Mazzanti kill, to pull within 24-21, but Zhou found the floor to give MIT the first set at 25-21.
Wheaton took a 9-7 lead, paced by a pair of kills from Mazzanti, and later clung to a 16-15 edge after a kill from senior middle hitter Hollis Hanson (Parker, Colo.), but the Engineers came alive. MIT reeled off eight straight points, including a pair of aces from senior libero Daphne Gavros (Bel Tiburon, Calif.), to take a 23-16 margin. The teams split the next four points, including a kill from Gibbs to give the Engineers a 2-0 match lead.
Senior outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) put down a kill to tie the third set at 3-3 for the Lyons, before MIT scored the next six points, including a trio of kills from Sadati, to take a 9-3 lead. Sophomore right side hitter Haley Jenkins (Dartmouth, Mass.) kept Wheaton within five with a kill to make it 12-7, but the Engineers expanded their lead to double-digits at 19-9. The Lyons scored the next two points, before MIT closed out the match behind three kills and an ace from Gibbs to give the home team the set and the match.
Wheaton returns to the court on Saturday, October 4 when it hosts Smith College in NEWMAC play at 12:00 p.m. in Emerson Gymnasium, while the Engineers host Mount Holyoke College on the same day at 1:00 p.m.
