SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Oct. 19, 2012) – The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team takes to the court on Friday evening, kicking-off the 21st Annual Volleyball Hall of Fame Tournament, hosted by MHC and Smith College. The tournament, which will feature 16 teams, showcases some of the best volleyball in New England beginning Friday at 5pm.
The Lyons get things going at Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium with one of two games to be played at 5pm. Mount Holyoke squares off against Colby on Court 1, while Westfield State and Wheaton will play on Court 2. Games continue at 7pm as Williams battles MIT on Court 1 and Tufts takes on Bowdoin on Court 2.
Saturday's action will see eight games contested at Mount Holyoke beginning at 9am as the Lyons battle Bridgewater State and Brandeis takes on Middlebury. The 11am match-ups will feature Tufts against Swarthmore and Wellesley against Amherst, while the 1pm games have Mount Holyoke against Westfield State and Bridgewater State versus Tufts.
The action concludes on Saturday with the 3pm match-ups as MIT takes on Amherst and Swarthmore squares-off against Colby.
Smith College, the co-host of the event, will also feature 12 contests at the same times on Friday and Saturday. Games at Smith will be played at Ainsworth and Scott Gymnasiums.
Mount Holyoke enters this weekend's action with a 3-15 record, paced by the efforts of first year Emma Sweeting (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y./Hastings), who leads the team in kills (150) and service aces (23).
Sophomore Stephany Yang (Glen Allen, Va./Henrico) is the squad leader in assists (253), while classmates Rebecca Bland (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends School) and Kaleen Iwema (Wadsworth, IL/Warren Township) are tops in blocks (15) and digs (226), respectively.
The Lyons have faced four of the 15 other teams in this year's tournament field, but will be playing their opponents for the event for the first time this season. In the all-time history, Mount Holyoke owns an 0-3 record against Colby, while going 7-7 against Bridgewater State. The Lyons are 10-7 all-time against Westfield State.
For more information about this year's Volleyball Hall of Fame Tournament, including the official program, schedules and scores, log on to http://www.smithpioneers.com/2012vbhof.
