Wellesley, Mass. - September 21, 2019 - The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team opened up New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play at Wellesley on Saturday afternoon, as the Lyons shouldered a three-set sweep at the Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

With the loss, the Lyons are now 2-9 overall and 0-1 against conference opponents, while the Blue improve to 8-3 on the year and 1-0 in NEWMAC play. Mount Holyoke College fell by the set scores of 13-25, 13-25, 15-25. 

First-year Marianne Simon (Miami, Fla.) led the Lyons with seven kills, hitting .200, while also producing a apir of digs and a service ace on the day. Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.) finished with five kills, while Sasha Simine (Kitchener, Ont.) notched three kills and five blocks. Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas) notched a team-high seven digs to go along with eight assists, while Bishop also had six digs in the setback.

Following an ace from Alexandra Keough (Endicott, N.Y.) and a kill from Bishop, the Lyons jumped out to an early 5-3 lead over the Blue, but with the score at 8-7 in Mount Holyoke College's favor, Wellesley rattled off a 5-0 run to take a 12-8 lead in the first set. With the score at 15-13 in favor of the Blue, the hosts were able to close out the first stanza on a 10-0 run to seal the 25-13 victory.

Wellesley controlled a 7-3 lead over Mount Holyoke College in the early stages of the second set, before a pair of errors from the Blue pulled the Lyons back to within a pair, still trailing 10-8. With the score at 14-10 in favor of Wellesley, the Blue then went on a 4-0 run to take a 18-10 lead, before Simon picked up a kill to make it 19-13. From there, the Blue scored the final six points of the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

It was back-and-forth play to begin the third set, as a kill from Simon made it 4-4, before Simon picked up another to make it 11-8, Wellesley. Bishop and Simon picked up back-to-back kills midway through the set to make it 14-14, but the Blue answered with a 7-0 run to make it 21-14, before closing out the 25-15 set and 3-0 match.

Up next, Mount Holyoke College will return to Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium on Tuesday, September 24 as the Lyons will host Coast Guard in NEWMAC play at 7 p.m.

For the latest updates on Mount Holyoke College Athletics, follow the Lyons on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.