BOSTON, Mass. – Led by a number of strong efforts, the Emerson College volleyball team posted a 3-0 (25-7, 25-15, 25-23) victory over Mount Holyoke College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday. The win moves the Lions to 8-6 overall and 1-3 in conference play, while the visiting Lyons are now 6-5 and 0-4 in the NEWMAC.
For Emerson, Grace Tepper (Kensington, Md.) and Fara Cohen (Morristown, N.J.) paced the Lions with 10 kills a piece. Senior Moira Brennan (Glenview, Ill.) had 32 assists in her record breaking match that saw her achieve her 2500th assist. Cohen led the Lions in digs with 11, with the second to last being the one that put her over 1,000.
Mount Holyoke saw Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.) and Jamesa Allen (Orlando, Fla.) each post seven kills, while Sarah Caggiano (Leonardtown, Md.) had 6 of her own. Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas) assisted on 17 of Mount Holyoke's 25 kills on the day.
In the first set, Emerson grabbed the early lead behind the serving of Kelley Guerra, who's serves won the Lions five of the first six points. After trading points and going up 9-3, the Lions server came through again, this time it was Lauren Quan who gave the Lions a commanding 17-4 lead behind three service aces. Mount Holyoke won the next three points, but Cohen took the serve and never gave it back, giving the Lions a 25-7 victory in the first set.
The second set started as a back and forth affair, before Mount Holyoke opened up the game on the serve through Caggiano, who led the Lyons to five straight points to open an 8-3 lead. Emerson fought back, tying the game and taking the lead through Quan on the serve once again. Quan, Guerra and Jamie Groele's (Chelmsford, Mass.) serve gave the home team a strong 22-14 lead before they closed out the game at 25-15.
The third set saw both teams battling to get the victory. No team had more than a four point lead throughout the whole set. Emerson grabbed the first four points before a Sarah Bishop kill stopped the streak for Mount Holyoke. The teams traded points and the game was tied at 21-21 late in the set. Emerson took four of the next six points, capped off by a Cohen kill to end the set a 25-23 and the match at 3-0.
Both teams return to the court on Tuesday as Emerson travels to Clark, while Mount Holyoke hosts WPI. Both matches begin at 7pm.
