Wheaton College (MA)

WENHAM, Mass. - First year Ashlan Tosadori (Butler, Pa.) set a new career high with 14 kills to make it two straight games with double digit put-downs, but the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball was held back by the Maine Maritime Academy in four sets (23-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-25) on Saturday morning at Gordon College.

Wheaton fell to 4-6 overall after the loss, while the Mariners earned just their third win of the season to improve to 3-6. 

Tosadori drove the offense for Wheaton as she led the team with 14 kills on .190 hitting, but senior Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.) had a higher hitting percentage as she recorded nine kills on .318 hitting. Sophomore Emily Cordell (Crawfordville, Fla.) finished with the team-high in assists as she set up 21 kills. Senior Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) had 15 assists and 12 assists for a double-double, and senior libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) set a new season high with 22 digs on the day. 

Two Mariners hit 13 kills, with senior Sydney Williams (Melbourne, Fla.) taking home the higher hitting percentage (.276) between herself and her fellow senior Ally Hadley (Hebron, Conn.) who finished with a .211 hitting percentage. Williams and Hadley both played around the rotation, leading to 13 and 12 digs respectively. First year Faith Reed (Kaneohe, Hawaii) had the game-high in assists with 33 while junior libero Hannah Tate (Spring Hill, Tenn.) had her team's highest dig tally with 21. 

Mazzanti kicked off the game with a kill for the Lyons, which they followed up with a kill from Tosadori. The Mariners had some trouble settling into the game and made some early errors which inflated Wheaton's lead to 6-3. Tosadori was able to keep the Lyons in front with a kill to put them up 10-8, but their three straight errors immediately after saw the Mariners take over at 11-10. Mazzanti tied it back up with a kill, but Williams answered with two for the Mariners. Tosadori kept the pace even as she notched another point to put the Lyons tantalizingly close to set point at 22-19. Williams scrounged up another pair of kills and the Lyons made four errors to cede the opening set to the Mariners 25-23. 

Both teams exchanged points at the beginning of the second set, before Tosadori kicked off a 5-0 scoring run for Wheaton with a kill. Hochberg had three consecutive service aces to put the Lyons ahead 6-1 in a hurry. Wheaton held the pace over the Mariners despite their two separate 3-0 scoring runs. Hadley notched a kill following a Wheaton error to make it a one-point game at 13-12 before they tied it at 14 following another attacking error by the Lyons. Neither team pulled away as the set stayed tied up to 21-21. Hadley recorded another kill while Wheaton made another error to put the Mariners on the brink of set point. With no margin for error, the Lyons finished off the Mariners thanks to two kills from Tosadori and two errors by Williams. Wheaton took the second set 25-23. 

Tosadori stayed scorching hot with a kill to open the third set, but the errors kept Wheaton from taking an early lead. They trailed the Mariners 10-9 before a huge scoring run flipped the script. A 6-0 stretch highlighted by two Tosadori kills put the Lyons ahead 16-10, but the Mariners were ready with a response. An 8-1 run from Maine Maritime saw the lead change hands once again as they took over at 19-17. Kills from Williams and Hadley canceled out Mazzanti's lone strike down the stretch and the Mariners clinched the third set 25-22.

Maine Maritime opened up the fourth set with a 5-2 run. Tosadori stopped the bleeding, but only for a moment as three more Wheaton errors set them back further. Mazzanti found the floor again, but the Mariners continued to pull away from the Lyons. Another massive 8-2 run from Maine Maritime set Wheaton back further at 22-13. The Mariners finished the affair quickly, outscoring Wheaton 3-2 to finish the match. The Lyons dropped the fourth set, 25-15 for their sixth loss of the season.

Wheaton and Maine Maritime will both play later today. The Lyons will take on the hosts, Gordon College in the final match of the day while Marine Maritime faces off with Saint Lawrence to wrap up their weekend in Wenham.