Cambridge, Mass. - October 5, 2019 - The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday afternoon, as the Lyons fell to MIT in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play before defeating Husson in straight sets.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College will return to action on Wednesday, October 9 when they travel to Dean for a 7 p.m. match.
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MIT 3, Mount Holyoke College 0 -- Game One
Sophomore Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.) and first-year Marianne Simon (Miami, Fla.) each produced four kills and Chelsea Galicia (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) had a team-best six digs but the Lyons fell to MIT, 3-0, to start the tri-match on Saturday in the Rockwell Cage.
Mount Holyoke College fell by the set scores of 25-9, 25-10, 25-11.
The Lyons jumped out to an early 4-1 advantage following an ace from Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas), before the Engineers went on a 6-1 run to take a 7-5 lead. A kill from Sasha Simine (Kitchener, Ont.) brought the Lyons back to within one, but from there, the Engineers would go on a 10-0 run to open a 17-6 lead, before going up 23-7 following an attack error from Simon. From there, Simon and Bishop both picked up late kills but the Engineers sealed the 25-9 set victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Starting set two, Mount Holyoke College once again took an early lead following a kill from Bishop, but the Engineers quickly made it 4-3 on an ace. A kill from Simine made it 6-6, before the Engineers broke open a 14-7 lead midway through the match. From there, Bishop would cut the Lyons' deficit back to nine with a kill, but the Engineers responded with a 7-1 run to finish the set, pulling out the 25-10 victory.
A kill from Simon made it 5-5 early in the third set, but MIT would take a 12-5 advantage following seven unanswered points, capped with an ace. After trading point with kills from Bishop and Simon, MIT took a 21-10 lead, before sealing the match with back-to-back aces.
Mount Holyoke College 3, Husson 0 -- Game Two
Both Bishop and Simon totaled 11 kills and combined for 19 digs as the Lyons cruised past Husson, 3-0, in its second match of the day, hosted at the Rockwell Cage.
Following Bishop and Simon was Simine, who notched six kills on 11 swings, hitting .364, while the senior also had a pair of aces and a pair of blocks. Walden handed out a team-high 17 assists, as the Lyons hit .301 as a team and used 36 kills en route to victory.
Opening the first set, Mount Holyoke College took a 6-3 advantage on a kill from Simine, before the Eagles eventually took an 8-5 lead following an attack error from Simon. The two sides traded points until the Lyons went on a 4-0 run to take a 14-13 lead following a kill from Simon. With the score at 17 apiece, Mount Holyoke College rattled off the last eight points of the first set to take a 1-0 lead in the match. In the run, the Lyons picked up two kills from Bishop an one apiece from Simon and Natasha Henry (Troy, N.Y.).
Starting the second set, Simine put down a kill that made it 7-3 in the early goings, before a kill from Bishop made it 10-5. After Husson pulled to within a pair, the Lyons opened a 15-9 lead on a kill from Bishop, before Simon gave Mount Holyoke College an 18-10 lead with a kill. Holding on to a 23-17 lead late in the set, the Lyons were able to get a kill from Bishop that sealted the 25-17 victory and gave Mount Holyoke College a 2-0 advantage in the match.
It was a back-and-forth battle for a majority of the third set. Trailing 14-12 midway through the frame, the Lyons put together a 6-0 run to take an 18-14 lead on an error from the Eagels, before a kill from Simon made it 19-15. With the score at 20-17, Mount Holyoke College picked up the final five points of the frame, including another kill from Henry to seal the match, 3-0.