POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Junior Emma Sweeting recorded 21 kills and 16 digs on the day, but the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team was unable to break into the win column, shouldering losses to Wellesley College (3-0) and Bryn Mawr College (3-1) in day one action at the 2014 Seven Sisters Championship, hosted by Vassar. The Lyons move to 2-5 overall.
Game one against the Blue saw Sweeting post 12 kills and seven digs. Sophomore Natalie Lyon (8 assists) and senior Stephany Yang (9 assists) combined for 17 assists in the match, while Lyon also posted a team-best eight digs. For Wellesley, Courtney Lang had 11 kills, while Sydney Carfagno and Caitlin Laughlin each added 10 kills. Taylor Jais posted a match-best 12 digs, while Maddie Koh had 34 assists.
The first set started out close, but the Blue quickly turned up the heat, jumping out to a 10-4 advantage on a kill from Carfagno. The Lyons pulled to within one (10-9) after capitalizing on numerous attacking errors and a kill from Katrina Meserve, but Wellesley continued to gain momentum as Lang posted three strikes, while Carfagno sealed the 25-15 set win.
In the second set, Wellesley led by as much as 10-2 and continued to build momentum. MHC's Rebecca Bland pulled it to within seven (17-10), but back-to-back kills from Laughlin powered the Blue to the 25-15 set win. The final set saw MHC open with the first point on a kill from Sweeting, but Wellesley took control to go up by a 13-5 margin. The Blue didn't look back as Laughlin, Eryn Harlvey and Katie Yan all laid down kills to end the set for the 25-15 win and match victory.
Against Bryn Mawr, the Lyons jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after taking the first set by a 25-22 margin. MHC built up an early lead, but the Owls got back into it, tying it at 12-all on a service error. Later, Mount Holyoke was able to take the win after kills from Bland and Sweeting sealed the set victory.
Bryn Mawr rebounded in the second set, battling to a 25-19 set win. The third set saw the Lyons battle close to the end, but despite back-to-back kills from Meserve, the Owls earned the 25th point on a kill from Sarah Gates. The fourth and deciding set was a back-and-forth affair until Bryn Mawr pulled away for an 11-5 lead on a kill from Noemi Moreno.
The Lyons tried to keep it close, but Bryn Mawr capitalized on numerous errors late in the set and kills from Rachel Ofili and Ellen Chiu to seal the 25-17 set win and match victory.
Mount Holyoke saw Bland record 10 kills with 11 digs and two service aces. Sweeting added nine kills, two aces and nine digs, while senior Kaleen Iwema and Lyon each chipped in with 18 digs. For the Owls, Ofili had 19 kills, while Gates added 13.
The Lyons return to action on Sunday with day two of the Seven Sisters Championships. MHC will battle the host Brewers at 9am and round out the competition at 2pm against Smith College.
Photo courtesy of RJB Sports Photography.
