SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Sophomore middle hitter Carly Staub recorded a match best seven kills to lead MIT to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 26-24) victory over Mount Holyoke College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) volleyball action on Tuesday night. With the win, the Engineers move to 10-2 and 3-0 in conference play, while the Lyons are now 2-6 and 0-3 in the NEWMAC.
After Mount Holyoke fell down 2-0 in the first two sets, the teams battled it out in the third frame. The Engineers got out to an 18-10 lead to start the set. Three consecutive serving errors from MIT sparked a come-from-behind effort for the Lyons, leading to a score of 18-13.
After an attacking error from the Engineers, MHC found themselves on the positive side of another 3-0 run, coming within four points of MIT. After a kill by MIT first year Veronica Ripper (Brighton, Mich./Brighton), sophomore middle hitter Joy Maran (Santa Fe. N.M./Santa Fe Prep) ignited the squad with a kill of her own. This lead to a four point outburst for MHC, which tied the game up at 20 all. An attacking error by the Lyons and a service ace by MIT sophomore setter Fiona Tanuwidjaja (Renton, Wash./Holy names Academy) put the Engineers back up by a 22-20 margin.
After back and forth action, the teams found themselves knotted up once again with the set on the line at 24-24. MHC made a costly attacking error leading to a game winning kill by sophomore outside hitter Abby Bertics to end the set and match.
MIT, which had nine of 16 players record a kill in the match, saw Bertics add six kills and two block assists to go along with Staub's (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Palos Verdes) match-high.
Engineers' sophomore setter Christina Liao (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) was the match leader with 18 assists, while adding on four digs and two service aces. First year defensive specialist Maddie Lee (San Mateo, Calif/Aragon) had a solid match contributing seven digs on the night.
For MHC, sophomore libero Cameron Graham (Sarasota, Fla./The Out of Door Academy) had a match-best nine digs, while junior outside hitter Katrina Meserve (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) led the Lyons attack with four kills, adding six digs and a block solo.
Sophomore middle hitter Sarah Caggiano (Leonardtown, Md./Leonardtown) added three kills with two block assists. Mount Holyoke was led defensively by Moran and first year middle hitter Sasha Simine (Kitchener, Ont./Cameron Heights College Institute) with three block assists respectively.
Following today's match, MHC stays at home to face conference foe Wheaton College on Saturday at 1pm. MIT is set to head back home Thursday to face UMass Boston at 6pm.
