South Hadley, Mass. - October 25, 2019 - Despite a career-best 24 assists from first-year setter Alexandra Keough (Endicott, N.Y.), the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team fell to visiting Framingham State, 3-0, in Howard Gymnasium on Friday evening.
With the loss, the Lyons are now 5-18 on the year, while the Rams improve to 16-10 overall. Mount Holyoke College lost by the set scores of 25-17, 25-11, 25-17.
Along with Keough's career performance, Sasha Simine (Kitchener, Ont.) led the Lyons with eight kills on 15 swings, hitting .467 for the match, while Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.) added seven kills and six digs. Keough also led the Lyons in digs with nine.
Framingham State jumped out to an early 6-1 lead, forcing a timeout from the Lyons' bench. Following the break, Mount Holyoke College pulled to within one, making it 7-6 following three-consecutive attack errors from the Rams. The visitors would then take a 14-7 lead following a bad set from Keough, but Simon and Bishop would respond with kills to keep the Lyons within four. Framingham State opened an eight-point lead before a service error from Mount Holyoke College resulted in the Rams taking set one, 25-17.
Following back-and-forth play to open the second set, Framingham State took a 10-5 lead, before a kill from Bishop brought Mount Holyoke College back to within four. Trailing 13-8, the Lyons surrendered a 9-1 run to go down 22-9, before the visitors closed out the set with a kill from Hailey Sanders (Franklin, Mass.).
Just like they did in the first set, Framingham State jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set, before a pair of kills from Simine narrowed the gap, making it 13-5 midway through the frame. From there, the Rams took an 18-9 lead before Simine and Simon rattled off three-straight kills to make it a six-point game with the Lyons trailing 18-12. Following another kill from Simine, Sanders picked up a kill to force match point and a service error from the Lyons would seal the match for Framingham State.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College will return to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday, October 29 when they travel to Smith College for a 7 p.m. contest with the Pioneers.
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