SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The WPI Engineers outlasted the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team in a marathon, back-and-forth NEWMAC match Tuesday night in Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium, coming back from a 2-1 deficit to edge the Lyons 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-27, 25-22, 16-14).
WPI moves to 12-8 overall, 3-5 in NEWMAC play, while Mount Holyoke falls to 8-11, 1-7 with the result.
Senior captain McKenna Crosby (Jonesborough, Tenn.) played an immense match with nine kills on 18 attempts (.389) and a career-high nine blocks, including three solo, for a team-high 16 points.
First-year Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) notched a double-double with 14 kills and 20 digs, while senior Mar Simon (Miami, FL) had nine kills and 23 digs. First-year Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) had eight kills and five blocks, while sophomore libero Lucie Berclaz (Hull, Mass.) notched a match-high 31 digs. First-year setter Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) recorded a season-high 37 assists, and senior Marion Abeja (Kumi, Uganda) added 21 digs and four blocks.
WPI outhit Mount Holyoke .165 to .107, backed by four Engineers in double-figures in kills. Emily Hudson led the way with 15, while Natalia Wierzbicki had 14, Fiona Gillis had 13, and Maddie Sanborn notched 12. Gillis hit at a .367 percentage and added six digs. Catherine Reynolds distributed the balanced offense with 50 assists, adding 12 digs.
Elsewhere for WPI, Victoria Escuer racked up a career-high 28 digs, the most in a match this season for any Engineer. Suela Miloshi tied her career high with 19 digs, while Jia Yazon had 16. Alexandra Spezzano rounded out the WPI highlights with a career-best 16 digs.
WPI led 4-1 early in set one, pushing it to 11-5 with a 7-4 surge. MHC battled back to make it 11-7, but another surge increased the Engineers' advantage to 16-7. The Lyons rallied twice more before the end of the frame, but two kills from Sanborn and a Reynolds ace ended the set at 25-20 for WPI.
Mount Holyoke knotted the match at 1-1 with a win in set two. The Lyons opened the frame on a 5-1 run and led by as much as seven. Trailing 19-13, WPI rallied to tie the set at 20-20 on back-to-back kills from Gillis, but the Lyons pulled out a 25-23 win, clinching the set with a kill by Barton.
The Lyons moved into the lead with a third-set victory, needing extra points to go up 2-1 in the match. The Engineers had the early edge, opening play by winning seven of the first 10 points. WPI held on to the lead until an extended 12-3 spurt put Mount Holyoke up 18-15 with Simon serving. The Engineers rallied to tie the frame at 18-18 and eventually took a 24-23 lead on a Hudson kill. Two more ties followed, 24-24 and 25-25 before the Lyons strung together back-to-back kills by Crosby and Barton to take the set 27-25.
The fourth set featured 12 ties and nine lead changes. Mount Holyoke had an early lead, but WPI battled back to tie it at 9-9. Neither team was able to gain much momentum over the next few points, as the frame was knotted up six more times before the Lyons edged ahead 21-20. Following a WPI timeout, a Reynolds kill tied the set at 22-22, sparking a 4-0 surge that gave the Engineers a 25-22 win.
WPI opened the deciding fifth set on a 7-2 run. Mount Holyoke closed the gap to 8-4 and then went on a 8-2 surge, with Duffrin serving, to go up 12-10 after two WPI miscues and a block by Crosby and Abeja. The Engineers countered with a 4-1 run to get set point at 14-13, but the Lyons spoiled it on a Barton kill to tie it at 14-14. After an MHC service error, WPI ended the set and match with a long rally punctuated by a Wierzbicki kill to win it.
Mount Holyoke next plays at Lesley on Thursday at 7pm.
