SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team pushed Mount Holyoke to the brink, but ultimately fell to the Lyons 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-17, 22-25, 10-15) in Saturday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference match.
Wheaton finishes the season at 10-18 overall and 2-9 in the NEWMAC following the loss, while Mount Holyoke ends the regular season at 11-11 overall and 3-8 in the NEWMAC.
Senior
Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.) led Wheaton's offense with 14 kills, five block assists and a dig as she eclipsed the 800 career kills mark in her final game with Wheaton. First year
Eliana Inch (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) had a strong day offensively as she took home nine kills and three digs while fellow first year
Maddy Botelho (Swansea, Mass.) took home eight kills and 13 digs. Junior
Haley Jenkins (Dartmouth, Mass) had an efficient day with 6 kills on .455 hitting. Senior setter
Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) had a season-high 34 assists. Senior libero
Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) tied for the team lead with 13 digs to drive her career total to 1664, the seventh most in program history.
First year Layla Abdullah (Phoenix, Ariz.) led the floor with 18 kills on .593 hitting. First year Eliza Vest (Rumford, R.I ) finished with a double-double as she took home 12 kills and 10 digs while fellow first year Ellie Molina (Norwich, Vt.) had 12 kills as well. Junior Josie McFadden (Edmonton, Alberta) finished with eight kills while first year setter Melina Cudiamat (Aiea, Hawaii) set up 44 assists to lead the floor. Senior libero Kyra Staples (Chatham, Ill.) had a season-high 35 digs to lead the floor as well.
Mazzanti opened up the match with a kill, but Molina responded the same way to set the tone early in the first set. Each team stayed even up to a 5-5 draw before Molina notched another kill to give Mount Holyoke a 6-5 lead. Inch snapped off a kill to spark a 7-1 run for Wheaton which flipped the lead back to the visitors. Jenkins and Orbán each put down kills over that stretch while Hochberg picked up two service aces. Two kills from Abdullah brought Mount Holyoke within four points of Wheaton at 16-12, but de la Pena and Jenkins put down back-to-back swings to keep their opponents at bay. Inch again sparked a scoring run with a kill as Wheaton took a 22-15 lead. A Jenkins kill and a Mount Holyoke error put Wheaton on set-point, but things were not finished yet. Vest snapped a kill that sparked a 7-0 scoring run on set point, bringing them within a single point of Wheaton at 24-23. Fortunately, Mazzanti stepped up and finished the first set the same way she began it: with a kill. The visiting Lyons won the opener 25-23.
Vest built off of several Wheaton errors early on in the second set with two kills to put her team ahead 5-2. Botelho killed their momentum with a strong swing before she slipped two serves past the host's defense to tie it at 5-5. Wheaton strung a 7-2 scoring run together that Jenkins capped off with an ace to take a 14-9 lead. Mount Holyoke took advantage of more Wheaton errors as they put a massive 13-4 scoring run on the board to take a 19-17 lead. Inch was able to build off an opposing error with a kill that tied it at 19-19, but another 4-0 run for Mount Holyoke, carried by Abdullah, put them ahead 23-19. Jenkins struck for a kill late in the frame to keep the Lyons in contention, but McFadden put those hopes to rest with a kill. Mount Holyoke took the second set 25-23.
Mazzanti gave her Lyons a hot start in the third set as she bounced two kills to help them take a 7-1 lead out of the gates. Mazzanti worked with Inch and Jenkins to keep the offensive pace in their favor as they endured a 5-1 scoring run by the hosting Lyons. Botelho and Mazzanti were crucial for Wheaton down the stretch as each put down two more kills from opposing pins to quickly put their side on set-point at 24-14. Molina put down a kill for the hosts and Vest served up an ace, but the effort was too little too late to change the outcome of the set. Wheaton took the third set 25-17.
The fourth set saw another even start as each side played the other to a 7-7 deadlock.Mount Holyoke was the first to break away thanks to two kills by Abdullah and Vest. Inch kept her team in the hunt with a kill, but Mount Holyoke still led 14-10. The lead flipped after a 6-1 scoring run for Wheaton was gifted to them by half a dozen errors, but were unable to capitalize as a 5-1 run for Mount Holyoke followed. Botelho and Inch again combined forces for back-to-back kills to tie the set at 20-20, but three kills from Abdullah and two Wheaton errors ended their comeback hopes at 25-22. The match would be decided by a winner-takes-all fifth set.
Wheaton came out of the gates slowly in that fifth set, with the exception of Mazzanti. Her back-to-back kills gave Wheaton an early 2-1 lead. A pair of aces by Cudiamat amidst a 4-0 scoring run ceded the advantage, but Mazzanti came roaring back with 2 kills around a Mount Holyoke error to tie it at 5-5. Vest made two more mistakes, which allowed Wheaton to stay in front 7-6, but the visiting Lyons answered with three errors of their own. Botelho put down a kill in a bid to stop the bleeding, but the damage was done. Abdullah swung for two more kills while Vest notched another as the hosts put up a 6-2 scoring run to earn the match-win with a 15-10 fifth set.
