Paxton, Mass. - September 26, 2019 - Behind seven kills apiece from senior Sasha Simine (Kitchener, Ont.) and sophomore Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.), the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team picked up a three-set sweep of Anna Maria in the Fuller Center on Thursday evening.

The Lyons hit .365 as a team and produced 18 service aces in the victory. Mount Holyoke College defeated the Amcats by the set scores of 25-5, 25-10 and 25-5. The last time the Lyons hit .365 or better as a team was when Mount Holyoke College hit .500 in a three-set sweep of Elms College on October 6, 2016.

Simine picked up seven kills on 10 errorless swings, hitting .700 for the match, while Gabrielle Davis (Keller, Texas) had six kills, hitting at a .417 clip. Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas) handed out 23 assists, while both Alexandra Keough (Endicott, N.Y.) and Chelsea Galicia (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) recorded a team-best nine digs. Keough also had a team-best six aces in the win.

The Lyons rattled off the first four points of the first set as Keough picked up an ace, before a 12-0 run, capped by a kill from Bishop gave Mount Holyoke College a convincing 16-1 lead in the set. After Anna Maria picked up another point, the Lyons went on another five-point run, once again capped by a kill from Bishop. From there Bishop, Keough and McKenna Crosby (Jonesborough, Tenn.) sealed the 25-5 set victory for the Lyons.

Mount Holyoke College opened the second set with a four-point run, before a kill from Simine made it 12-3, Lyons, midway through the stanza. From there, Mount Holyoke College was able to take a 19-5 lead over the Amcats on an ace from Walden, before Davis ended the set with an ace to give the Lyons a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Lyons opened the third set with the first 13 points, finsihed off with an ace from Keough, before a 5-0 run midway through the set lifted Mount Holyoke College's lead to 18-2. From there, Walden picked up a kill that made it 22-3, before Simine and Davis earned back-to-back kills for the visitors to finish off the 25-5 set victory and three-set sweep.

Up next, Mount Holyokde College will return home to Howard Gymnasium and will host Emerson College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday, September 28. The match is set to begin at 12 p.m.

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Photo courtesy of Brian Foley.