North Adams, Mass. - September 3, 2019 - The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team suffered a 3-0 setback at MCLA in non-conference action on Tuesday evening at the Amsler Campus Center Gym.

With the loss, the Lyons are now 0-3 on the year, while the Trailblazers improve to 1-3 overall.

Senior Sasha Simine (Kitchener, Ont.) led the way for the Lyons with nine kills on 23 swings, hitting .261 for the match, while Marianne Simon (Miami, Fla.) chipped in eight kills and had three digs. Chelsea Galicia (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) posted a team-high nine digs, while Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas) registered 16 assists.

Mount Holyoke jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in the first set following a kill from Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.), before the Trailblazers tied it at nine apiece when Kelsey LaFreniere (Becket, Mass.) earned a kill midway through the match. A quick 4-0 surge made it 13-9, Lyons, but MCLA answered with a 9-2 run to take an 18-15 lead in the first frame. From there, the Trailblazers would close the set on a pair of errors from the Lyons, winning 25-19.

The second set started much like the first, as Simone picked up a kill to make it 5-2, Mount Holyoke, before MCLA went on a 10-1 run that gave the hosts a 18-9 advantage. The Lyons were able to pull within five at match point, but a kill from LaFreniere sealed the second set to force Mount Holyoke into a 2-0 deficit.

Simine picked up a kill to make it 4-3, Lyons, in the third set, before Alexandra Keough (Endicott, N.Y.) had an ace that made it 10-10 midway through the frame. From there, the Trailblazers went on a 7-0 run to burst open a 17-10 lead, before the Lyons responded with a 7-1 run, capped by back-to-back kills from Simon to give Mount Holyoke a 20-19 advantage. Following a timeout from the hosts, MCLA cruised to a 25-20 final to complete the sweep.

Up next, Mount Holyoke will return home to Howard Gymnasium on Saturday, September 7 when it will host SUNY Cobleskill and St. Joseph's University in a tri-match beginning at 10 a.m.