NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - Junior
Haley Jenkins (Dartmouth, Mass.) made Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball history in the Lyons' 3-1 (23-25, 25-11, 25-27, 25-23) win over Westfield State University on Saturday afternoon as she put down 10 service aces, the second-most in program history.
Wheaton improved to 5-11 after the win, while Westfield State fell to 5-10 after the loss.
Senior
Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.) was the leader of the offense for Wheaton as she pounded home 18 kills on .371 hitting. Junior middle
Katie de la Pena (Little Rock, Colo.) had eight kills on .615 hitting and no errors, while first years
Maddy Botelho (Swansea, Mass.) and
Ashlan Tosadori (Butler, Pa.) both had seven kills. First year
Eliana Inch (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) had an efficient four kills on .286 hitting while Jenkins finished with 2 kills and four block assists. Jenkins also served up 10 aces, which is tied for second-most in program history and is the first time the mark has been achieved since Natasha von Sonn '10 did it on October 13, 2007. Senior setter
Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) had the team-high in assists with 19 while senior libero
Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) led the team with 11 digs.
Senior Lauren Carnes (Westfield, Mass.) was the offensive leader for the Owls with 11 kills. First year Chloe Maton (Mol, Belgium) had nine kills on .471 hitting with six digs while first year Kaliya Sanon (Brockton, Mass.) took home eight kills on .333 hitting. Sophomore setter Randi Reid (Spring Branch, Texas) led the floor with 26 assists while senior Erica Majka (Agawam, Mass.) had a team-leading 14 digs.
Mazzanti and Jenkins opened up the game by combining for a block on the very first point. Two early kills from Mazzanti kept the Lyons in front and before long they had a 7-3 lead. Each side exchanged errors before Westfield strung three points together to make it 9-8. Wheaton pulled away after a pair of Owl errors, but an 8-0 run highlighted by two kills for Maton and one for Carnes put the Owls ahead at 16-11. Mazzanti put a stop to their run with a big kill, but Carnes put down two more kills to keep her team in front. Inch, Botelho, and de la Pena combined for kills as the Lyons desperately tried to claw back at their opponents, eventually coming one point away from Westfield at 22-21. Sanon swung for a kill as the Owls neared set point, but de la Pena answered with a kill of her own before Tosadori forced a tie at 23-23 with her first kill of the night. A Wheaton missed serve and a service ace for Reid saw the comeback bid fizzle out, and the Lyons dropped the opening frame 25-23.
The Lyons emerged on the floor for the second set with an elevated attention to detail. Their errors were dramatically reduced in the second frame, and the scoreline reflected it. Neither team pulled away from the other at the start as Mazzanti, Botelho and de la Pena all put down kills. Despite their efforts, they still trailed 6-5. Inch was able to put down a massive kill that sparked a 4-0 scoring run to put the Lyons ahead at 9-6. Mazzanti put down consecutive kills to push the Lyons forwards even further before a Maton kill made it 12-9. From there, the Lyons opened up their largest scoring run of the season with 10 straight points. The final four points were single-handedly won by Jenkins as she served up four straight service aces to make it 22-9. Her next serve unfortunately missed and Maton put down one more kill, but the Lyons were able to secure the set win 25-11 without controversy.
Wheaton and Westfield were even with each other at the start of the third set. The score stayed tied up to a 7-7 deadlock before the Lyons were able to pull away with a 5-0 run. Each side again traded errors before Wheaton put together another 5-0 run to make it 18-11. The run once again was ended by three straight Jenkins aces and the Lyons were off and running. Tosadori put down two more kills to make it 20-15. Westfield continued to struggle with containing the errors down the stretch, and the Lyons took the third set 25-17 after an attacking error by the Owls.
With a 2-1 set lead, the Lyons needed to take the fourth set to earn their first win since September 18. Tosadori, Mazzanti and Jenkins all earned kills at the start of the frame to help the Lyons take a 5-2 lead. Four straight Westfield errors made it 9-3, just before de la Pena got her team to 10 points with a kill. Mazzanti took advantage of a missed serve to put down a kill for a 12-6 Wheaton lead, but a 4-0 run from Westfield put pressure on the Lyons. Mazzanti and Jenkins both put down kills and Botelho scored a service ace to make it 15-10, but a 9-2 run from the Owls flipped the lead around once again. Inch, Mazzanti and de la Pena helped lift the Lyons back to the lead with kills, but a kill from Sanon tied it at 22-22. Carnes missed her ensuing serve, but Sanon got another kill to keep everything tied at 23-23. Botelho bounced a kill past the Westfield defense to put Wheaton on match point, and an Owls error ended the match in Wheaton's favor. The Lyons won the fourth set 25-23 to take a 3-1 win over the Owls.
Wheaton will play again on Wednesday as the host Springfield College for a NEWMAC game at 7:00 pm inside Emerson Gymnasium. Westfield State will return to their home gym for a midweek match as they take on Bay Path at 7:00 pm on Wednesday as well.
