South Hadley, Mass. - September 28, 2019 - The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team fell in straight sets to Emerson College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play at Howard Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
With the loss, the Lyons are now 3-11 overall and 0-4 in league play, while Emerson College improves to 9-4 on the season with a 2-2 mark against league opponents. Mount Holyoke College fell by the set scores of 18-25, 23-25, 15-25.
The Lyons were led by eight kills from both Sasha Simine (Kitchener, Ont.) and Marianne Simon (Miami, Fla.), as Simine hit .278 in the setback. Gabrielle Davis (Keller, Texas) had an efficient day, putting down six kills on eight swings, hitting .500, while Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.) stuffed the stat sheet with six kills and a team-best 12 digs. Setter Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas) handed out 25 assists in the setback, the most she has collected in the 2019 season.
Emerson scored the first five points of the opening set, forcing an early timeout from the Lyons bench. Following the stoppage, Mount Holyoke College picked up back-to-back kills from Simine and Davis, before the Lyons pulled to within one on a bad set from the Emerson side. Even at 12 apiece, Emerson opened a four-point lead, but the Lyons once again pulled to within one, making it 17-16 on an ace from Alexandra Keough (Endicott, N.Y.). Back-to-back aces from the visitors, followed by a pair of attack errors from Mount Holyoke College proved costly in the frame, as the hosts dropped the first set, 25-18.
It was a back-and-forth battle in the second set, the closest stanza featured in Saturday's match. The Lyons took a 6-2 lead on solid serving from Simon and back-to-back kills from Simine. The Lions would eventually take a 7-6 lead, but Emerson wrestled back the advantage, and opened a 13-11 lead over Mount Holyoke College. From there, Simon produced a pair of kills that gave the Lyons a 17-15 lead, before going up 20-16 on a kill from Davis. In the late stages of the stanza, Emerson made a roaring comeback and picked up six of the last seven points to seal the 25-23 set victory.
Emerson jumped out to an 8-5 lead in the third set, before an ace from McKenna Crosby (Jonesborough, Tenn.) brought the Lyons to within one. From there, Emerson proceeded to take a 16-10 lead before eventually closing out the 25-15 victory.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College will continue NEWMAC play on Tuesday, October 1 when the Lyons travel to WPI for a 7 p.m. match.
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