North Adams, Mass.- The Mount Holyoke volleyball team picks up its third win in a row against MCLA, behind strong efforts from junior right side Sarah Caggiano and sophomore middle hitter Sasha Simine. With the 3-0 victory, the Lyons record improves to 3-0 overall, while the Trailblazers drop its home opener, falling to 0-5. The Lyons took the match by scores of 25-15, 25-19, and 25-17 to earn the win.

MHC was paced by Caggiano (Leonardtown, Md./Leonardtown) who notched a game-high eight kills.  She added 9 digs and four block assists. Simine (Kitchener, Ont./Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute) also had a solid night collecting 6 kills on just 9 attacks. Simine had another strong defensive game with seven total blocks - four coming in solo fashion. First year setter Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas/McKinney North) and junior outside hitter Joy Maran (Santa Fe, N.M./ Santa Fe Prep) had 12 and 10 digs respectively to help the defensive effort. Mount Holyoke took advantage of 34 errors by the Trailblazers.  

For the Trailblazers, sophomore outside hitter Brooke Queripel (Palmer, AK/Matsu Central) led the squad with six kills to go along with five digs. Senior defensive specialist Mele Enomoto (Wailuku, HI/Maui) also had a productive night on defense with a game-best 14 digs.

The Lyons broke open a close first set and pulled away to earn the convincing 25-15 win.  In the second set, MHC led 24-11 before MCLA rattled off 8 straight points, but ultimately fell 25-19 after an error ended the set. In the closing set, the Lyons clinched the win on an ace by Caggiano, their eighth of the night, to earn their third straight win of the season.

Mount Holyoke looks to carry momentum into its homeopener on Saturday, facing Elms College and Simmons College. MCLA is also back in action on Saturday with a tri match at Bay Path and Castleton. All action is set to begin at 10:00am.