NORTHAMPTON, Mass -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team was swept by Smith College 3-0 (22-25, 18-25, 20-25) in their first match on Saturday afternoon in Northampton.
Wheaton fell to 4-11 overall and dipped in the NEWMAC to 0-4 following the loss. Smith improved to 14-1 overall and stayed perfect in the conference at 4-0.
Senior pin hitter
Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.) commanded the Wheaton offense with 13 kills on a season-high of .444 hitting. Junior
Katie de la Pena (Little Rock, Colo.) was hot on her teammate's heels with seven kills on .400 hitting, while first year
Eliana Inch (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) had five kills. The setting duties were split between senior
Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) and sophomore
Emily Cordell (Crawfordville, Fla.) as they finished with 13 and 11 assists respectively. Senior libero
Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) held the defense down again with 10 digs as junior
Haley Jenkins (Dartmouth, Mass.) took home four kills on .273 hitting.
Senior Addison Klunder (Los Angeles, Calif.) was the offense leader for Smith as she took home nine kills. Senior Anna Feuer (Frederick, Md.) was lights out in the middle as she finished with eight kills on .727 hitting. Sophomore setter Hana Suzuki (Chattanooga, Tenn.) led the floor with 15 assists while senior libero Ruth Tullis (Edmond, Okla.) led her team with nine digs.
Wheaton and Smith opened up the game evenly as Mazzanti got the offense started with two quick kills. Smith pushed ahead to a 6-3 lead early in the set, but de la Pena and Inch were able to drag the Lyons back to level-pegging with the Bears after two kills apiece. Knotted at 10-10, the Lyons had momentum on their side. De la Pena capitalized on that momentum with a kill and Jenkins responded with one of her own to put the Lyons ahead 13-12 for their first lead of the day. Their momentum disappeared as quickly as it came when the Bears snapped off a 5-0 scoring streak to retake the lead at 17-13. A Mazzanti kill amidst a 4-1 run for the Lyons helped bring them within reach of the Bears, but five errors by the white and blue ended the set at 25-22.
Mazzanti opened the second set with a kill, but Feuer answered back with three straight kills to inspire a scoring run for Smith. The Bears quickly jumped ahead to a 6-1 lead, but Wheaton was able to string a 9-2 scoring run together to regain the lead at 10-8. The script flipped again when Smith responded with a 5-2 scoring run to take a 13-12 lead. Klunder kept the Bears' offense rolling with three straight service aces, and her effort quickly had the hosts ahead 20-17. Two more Wheaton errors and another pair of service aces for Smith put them on set point at 24-17. De la Pena prolonged the inevitable with a kill, but a missed serve immediately after ended the set at 25-18 for the Bears.
Jenkins and de la Pena each found the floor at the start of the third set, but quickly found themselves trailing again as Klunder put down four kills of her own and Suzuki struck two service aces across a 7-0 scoring run for the hosts. A 5-0 scoring run for Wheaton brought them closer before de la Pena and Inch buried back-to-back kills to tie the set at 14-14. Another 5-0 run was established, but this time the Bears were leading the charge as Tullis picked up a pair of service aces. Jenkins and Mazzanti both earned one more kill down the stretch, but their offense was not enough to overcome the Bears' large lead. The Lyons dropped the final set of the match 25-20 as they ceded the sweep to their conference foes.
Wheaton and Smith will both play again today. The Lyons will play in the next game in Northampton as they take on Westfield State at 3:00 pm. The Bears will also face off with Westfield State after the conclusion of Wheaton's matinee.
