Box Score NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team fell in non-conference play to Connecticut College 3-0 (18-25, 16-25, 15-25) on Saturday afternoon in New London.
The Lyons fell to 7-15 with the loss while the Camels improved to 9-9 on the season.
First year
Eliana Inch (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) led the offense with eight kills on .316 hitting. Fellow first year
Maddy Botelho (Swansea, Mass.) had seven kills and seven digs while senior setter
Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) set up 11 assists to lead the Lyons. Senior libero
Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) led the Lyons with 10 digs.
Senior Rae Wartelle (Tacoma, Wash.) led the floor with 16 kills on .448 hitting. Sophomore Vibha Sheth (Austin, Texas) had five kills on .333 hitting to go with 6 block assists. Sophomore Aubrie Letourneau (Mattapoisett, Mass.) led the Camels with 18 assists while first year Lexi Rosenblatt (Austin, Texas) set up 13. Sophomore Dylan Kokkinos (Aurora, Ill.) led the floor with 12 digs while senior Taylor Merrifield (Honolulu, Hawaii) finished with 11.
The match started well for Wheaton as two service aces by Orbán saw them take an early 4-1 lead. Botelho sparked a 3-0 run with a kill, and the Lyons quickly found themselves in front 7-2. Both teams traded 4-0 scoring runs to drive the Lyons lead to 11-6. Another Botelho kill put a wrinkle in a 3-0 run for the Camels, but the Camels answered with another 3-0 run immediately after. Wheaton led by a narrow 13-12 margin, but the Camels wiped that lead away with a 4-0 scoring run. Botelho sparked another run with a kill, and the Lyons regained the lead at 17-16. Sheth responded in kind and led her team to a 5-0 run for a 21-17 lead. Wheaton was unable to put a stop to the Camels' momentum and dropped the opening set 25-18.
Connecticut put themselves up 9-2 with a massive 7-0 scoring run at the start of the second set. Inch was able to make it closer with three kills, helped by two more Orbán service aces, but they still trailed 13-9. Another 5-0 run for the Camels put them in front 20-12. Inch and Orbán put down two more kills each but their effort was not enough to keep Wheaton in the set as they lost 25-16.
Both teams traded 3-0 scoring runs at the start of the third set, but Wartelle was able to increase the separation with back-to-back kills. A 5-0 scoring run for the Camels continued to widen the gap between the two sides, but Inch kept her team in it. Three more kills across a 5-1 scoring run for the Lyons tied the set at 12-12. Sheth broke the deadlock with back-to-back kills. The floodgates opened up, and the Camels ran away with an 11-2 scoring run to make it 23-14. Wheaton found the floor once more, but a kill by Wartelle and an attacking error ended the match with a 25-15 loss in the third.
Wheaton will continue their play on the road with a match at Emerson on Tuesday at 7:00 pm. Connecticut will also play on Tuesday as they head to the University of Saint Joseph for a 6:00 pm contest.
