South Hadley, Mass. - November 2, 2019 - The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team split a pair of matches to finish off the 2019 campaign at Howard Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon, as the Lyons fell to nationally-ranked Babson College before sweeping The Colleges at Sage in three sets.

Following the two matches, senior Sasha Simine (Kitchener, Ont.) broke a pair of Mount Holyoke College volleyball records as she finished the season with a hitting percentage of .373, which surpassed the previous record of .328 which was set by Simine in 2017. Simine also finished with a career hitting percentage of .329, which broke the previous record of .213, which was set by Stephanie Frase, who played from 2001-2004. Finishing her career with 704 kills, Simine is now No. 5 all time in kills over the course of a career.

The Lyons finish the 2019 season with a record of 7-20, while the Beavers are now 30-1. The Gators also finish the season with a record of 4-24.

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No. 17 Babson College 3, Mount Holyoke College 0 -- Game One

Despite 11 kills from Simine, the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team fell to nationally-ranked Babson College, 3-0, in Howard Gymnasium on Saturday morning.

With the loss, the Lyons fell to 6-20 on the year with an 0-10 record against New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opponents. With the win, Babson, which was No. 17 in the latest AVCA Division III National Rankings, improves to 29-1 overall with a 9-1 mark in league play. With the win, Babson clinched a share of the NEWMAC Regular-Season title and will serve as the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

Along with 11 kills from Simine, first-year Marianne Simon (Miami, Fla.) notched seven kills and had eight digs. Junior setter Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas) posted a team-best 11 digs and handed out 22 assists in the setback.

Babson College jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first set behind solid serving from first-year Laura Zuloaga (Naples, Fla.), before Simon picked up a kill for the Lyons second point of the match, making it 6-2. The Lyons were able to pull within a pair on a kill from Walden, but the Beavers opened a 19-12 lead on a four-point run, capped by a kill from Kristin Carosotto (East Greenwich, Conn.) to make it 19-12, visitors. Simine would add a kill late to make it 24-18, but Babson would close out the first frame on a kill from Zuloaga to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The two sides traded points to open up the second set before Babson took a 9-5 lead with a four-point run that was capped by an attack error from the Lyons. Mount Holyoke College evened the score at nine with a four-point run of their own, capped by a kill from Simon, but the visitors quickly regained a 13-9 lead on a kill from Jacalyn Pell (Milton, Ga.). Mount Holyoke College once again evened the score, this time at 18, as the Beavers committed back-to-back errors, but Babson would finish the frame on a four-point burst which included kills from Pell and Sabrina Lechner (Novato, Calif.) to give the visitors a 2-0 lead in the match.

Just like the second set, the third started with the two sides trading points until Mount Holyoke College took an 11-9 lead on two more errors from Babson. The Lyons would take a 12-10 lead on a kill from McKenna Crosby (Jonesborough, Tenn.), but the Beavers would respond with seven-consecutive points to control a 17-12 advantage. From there, the Lyons would pull back to within a pair and make it 20-18, but the visitors eventually prevailed in the set, 25-21, following a kill from Allie Puccio (New Hartford, N.Y.).

No. 17 Babson College 3, The Colleges at Sage 0 -- Game Two

First-year Laura Zuloaga (Naples, Fla.) posted a match-best eight kills as the nationally-ranked Beavers completed their regular season with a three-set sweep of The Colleges at Sage at Mount Holyoke College's Howard Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

The Beavers, which were ranked No. 17 in the latest AVCA Division III National Rankings, won by the set scores of 25-12, 25-12, and 25-18. 

Along with eight kills from Zuloaga, Allie Puccio (New Hartford, N.Y.) chipped in with seven kills of her own, while Elizabeth Cameron (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) handed out 20 assists. Maddie Malee (Orlando, Fla.) and Cassidy Witten (Honolulu, Hawaii) combined for 21 digs in the victory.

For Sage, Emma Parkington (Dalton, Mass.) led the way with six kills, hitting .235, while Francesca Gigliotti (Dalton, Mass.) had a team-best six assists. Megan Ryder (Broadalbin, N.Y.) and Elaina Moisidis (Albany, N.Y.) combined for 21 digs in the setback. 

Mount Holyoke College 3, The Colleges at Sage 0 -- Game Three

Simine finished off her collegiate volleyball career in impressive fashion as the Kitchener, Ont. native produced 11 kills on 17 swings as the Lyons defeated The Colleges at Sage, 3-0, to wrap up the 2019 campaign.

With the win, Mount Holyoke College closed the season with a record of 7-20, while the Gators fell to 4-24 with the loss. The Lyons won by the set scores of 25-22, 25-22, 25-12.

Along with 11 kills from Simine, Crosby added 10 kills on 17 swings, while Walden chipped in with 33 assists and 13 digs, both team highs for the match.

Mount Holyoke College jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first set, but the Gators quickly turned things around to take a 9-6 advantage. From there, Mount Holyoke Eventually took 16-15 lead in the set with a four-point run that included a pair of kills from Crosby, before the hosts took a 21-18 lead following a three-point burst that was started on a kill from Gabrielle Davis (Keller, Texas). From there, the Lyons were able to close out the frame on a kill from Simine to take a 1-0 lead.

Sage scored the first five points of the second set and took a 6-1 lead before the Lyons eventually made it an 11-8 deficit on a service ace from Walden. Trailing 13-8, Mount Holyoke College rattled off five-straight points to even the score at 13 following a kill from Davis, before a kill from Simon made it 22-22 towards the end of the stanza. With the match even, Mount Holyoke College delivered three-consecutive points to close out the second set, 25-22, and take a 2-0 match lead.

The third and final set was all Lyons as the hosts took an early 12-6 lead on a bad set from the Gators, before finishing off an 11-2 run with a kill from Simine that gave Mount Holyoke College a 20-8 advantage. From there, Simon was able to pick up a late kill and Walden finished off the contest with an ace to lead the Lyons to victory.