South Hadley, Mass. - September 1, 2021 - The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team was able to pick up a set victory, but the Lyons eventually fell to the visiting MCLA Trailblazers, 3-1, on Wednesday evening at Howard Gymnasium.

With the loss, the Lyons fall to 0-1 to start the year, while MCLA begins the season 1-0. The Trailblazers were victorious by the set scores of 25-17, 20-25, 27-25, 25-12.

Junior middle McKenna Crosby (Jonesborough, Tenn.) posted a team-best seven kills on 15 swings, while also picking up three service aces and a pair of digs. Both junior outside Marion Abeja (Kumi, Uganda) and senior right side Gabi Davis (Keller, Texas) registered six kills in the defeat, while senior setter Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas) directed the offense with 19 assists. Senior libero Chelsea Galicia (Altadena, Calif.) notched a team-best 15 digs in the setback.

For MCLA, Reagan Scattergood and Kelly Moczulski posted 14 kills, while setter Natasha Stewart handed out 40 assists. Both Ellie Walter-Goodspeed and Scattergood combined for 26 digs.

Trailing 6-3 in the first set, Crosby picked up a kill to narrow the deficit to a pair, before MCLA went on a 5-0 run to take an 11-4 lead. From there, the visitors extended their lead to 10 following an ace from Stewart, making it 17-7 and forcing a Lyons timeout. Coming out of the break, Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.) and Davis picked up consecutive kills, but a kill from Chloe Garber sealed the 25-17 set victory for the Trailblazers.

Bishop sparked a four-point run in the second set to give the Lyons an 8-4 advantage, before a pair of attack errors from Scattergood gave the hosts a 14-9 lead. From there, MCLA rattled off the next eight points to take a 17-14 advantage, before Mount Holyoke answered with an eight-point run of their own, capped by a kill from Abeja to make it 22-17, Lyons. After a service error from Bishop gave the ball back to the Trailblazers, Davis came up with a big kill to seal the 25-20 set win, pulling the match even at one apiece.

The third set was a battle that started with a kill from Bishop that gave the Lyons a 7-5 lead. Bishop would gain another kill to make it 16-10, Lyons, before MCLA went on a 7-0 run to take a one-point lead late in the frame. After trading points, the two teams were tied at 23 apiece before momentum was stolen by Stewart, who fooled the Lyons defense with a dump that gave the Trailblazers a 26-25 advantage. From there, Moczulski picked up a kill to give MCLA a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth and final set was all Trailblazers, as the visitors jumped out to a 10-5 lead before Mount Holyoke College took a timeout. Trailing 23-9, Mount Holyoke rallied with three-consecutive points including a kill from Crosby, but the Lyons eventually fell short, 25-12.

Up next, Mount Holyoke College will travel to University of Saint Joseph (CT) for a 12 p.m. tilt on Saturday, September 4.

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