West Hartford, Conn. - September 4, 2021 - Senior outside hitter Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Vt.) produced a team-best 12 kills and nine digs, but the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller to the University of Saint Joseph (CT) on Saturday afternoon at the O'Connell Center.
With the loss, the Lyons drop to 0-2 overall, while the Blue Jays improve to 1-0 on the year following their season-opening match. Saint Joseph won by the set scores of 19-25, 25-22, 14-25, 26-24, 17-15.
In addition to Bishop's 12 kills, Marion Abeja (Kumi, Uganda) finished with 11 kills, while Gabi Davis (Keller, Texas) produced 10 kills on 20 swings in the setback. Senior setter Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas) led the Lyons' offense, handing out 38 assists, while senior libero Chelsea Galicia (Altadena, Calif.) registered a team-best 24 digs. Abeja also posted 14 digs in the loss. First-year Barah Burns (Los Angeles, Calif.) led Mount Holyoke with four service aces on the day, as the Lyons produced 11 service aces on the afternoon.
After dropping the first three points of the match, Mount Holyoke responded with a 7-0 run, including back-to-back kills from Bishop and a service ace from Abeja. After Saint Joseph pulled to within one to make it 11-10, another two kills from Bishop and one more from Willet Parkins (Norwich, Vt.) gave the Lyons a 19-14 lead, before a kill from Davis made it 23-17. From there, a pair of attack errors from the hosts resulted in Mount Holyoke taking set one, 25-19.
Saint Joseph jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the second set, before a kill from Bishop brought the Lyons back to within a pair, making it 8-6. From there, USJ utilized a 9-2 run to take a 17-8 lead over Mount Holyoke, before back-to-back aces from Burns, kills from Parkins and Abeja and a later ace from Lucie Berclaz (Kyogo, Japan) made it a two-point game with the Lyons trailing 23-21 late in the set. The Blue Jays would eventually prevail, 25-22 following a kill from Hannah Benson and a Mount Holyoke service error.
The Lyons bounced back and took an early 7-3 lead in the second set, before a kill from Davis made it 8-4. After a kill from Davis got the momentum back for Mount Holyoke, Burns produced another service ace to give the Lyons an 18-11 lead, before three errors from Saint Joseph pushed Mount Holyoke's lead to 10. Bishop picked up two more kills down the stretch before Abeja sealed the set victory for the Lyons with a kill.
The two sides were neck-and-neck to begin the tense fourth set. Even at eight apiece, Saint Joseph jumped out to a 12-9 lead and retained their three-point advantage until a 6-0 spurt gave the hosts an 18-11 lead in the frame. From there, McKenna Crosby (Jonesborough, Tenn.) produced a pair of kills before a kill from Bishop made it a three-point game with the Lyons trailing 19-16. Trailing 24-22, Abeja and Davis notched kills to even the score at 24 apiece, before Saint Joseph received kills from Shannon Carey and Benson to give the Blue Jays the 26-24 victory and even the match at two sets apiece.
The fifth and final set started with each team trading points, before a pair of attack errors from Saint Joseph gave Mount Holyoke a 6-4 lead. Burns produced another service ace to make it 10-7 visitors, before the Blue Jays clawed back into the match, evening the score at 13 apiece following a kill from Benson. A kill from Davis gave the Lyons a 15-14 lead late, but three-consecutive kills from Benson won the match for the hosts, finishing the fifth set 17-15.
Mount Holyoke College will return to action on Tuesday, September 7 when the Lyons travel to Anna Maria for a 7 p.m. match.
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