Photo courtesy of Brian Foley.
South Hadley, Mass. - September 11, 2021 - The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller to Framingham State but responded with a three-set victory over SUNY Cobleskill in a tri-match hosted at Howard Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. With the split, the Lyons are now 2-3 on the year.
Leading the Lyons on Saturday was junior outside hitter Marion Abeja (Kumi, Uganda) who totaled 17 kills and 24 digs on the day, while senior setter Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas) handed out a total of 54 assists and picked up six service aces across the two matches. Additionally, the tandem of senior libero Chelsea Galicia (Altadena, Calif.) and first-year setter Barah Burns (Los Angeles, Calif.) combined for 56 digs in the two matches. Walden's 54 assists on Saturday pushes her career total to 1,550, as she becomes just the fourth student-athlete in the history of Mount Holyoke College volleyball to eclipse the 1,500 assist plateau.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College will travel to Smith College on Tuesday, September 14 and will open New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play against the Pioneers at 7 p.m.
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Framingham State 3, Mount Holyoke 2 - Game One
Abeja produced 11 kills while Gabi Davis (Keller, Texas) added eight of her own as the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win the third and fourth sets, but eventually fell to Framingham State in five to kick off Saturday's tri-match in Howard Gymnasium.
The Lyons fell by the set scores of 11-25, 13-25, 25-19, 25-9, 14-16.
Junior middle blocker McKenna Crosby (Jonesborough, Tenn.) also added seven kills to go along with six digs in the setback, while Galicia and Burns combined for 30 digs. Walden handed out 33 assists in the five-set thriller, while Davis and Crosby combined for nine block assists.
Framingham State used solid serving from libero Isabel Henwood to take an early 11-2 advantage in the first set before Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.) ended the run with a kill to give the Lyons service back. From there, the Rams controlled a 15-4 advantage before Mount Holyoke rattled off three-consecutive points including kills from Walden and Sierra West (Longmont, Colo.) to make it 15-7. The Lyons were only able to muster two more points before the end of the set as the Rams took the first, 25-11.
The Rams got out to a hot start in the second set, beginning the frame on another 11-2 run before a kill from Abeja and back-to-back kills from Bishop made it a six-point game. Framingham State then took a 10-point advantage following a kill from Valerie Sullivan and an attack error from the Lyons before the visitors took a 2-0 lead on a 25-13 set victory.
Mount Holyoke College came to life in the third set as the Lyons and Rams traded the first six points of the match before a kill from Crosby gave the hosts an 8-7 lead. From there, back-to-back kills from Davis made it 16-13, Mount Holyoke, before a 5-0 run including a pair of kills from Abeja granted the Lyons a 21-14 advantage. From there, a kill from West and another from Willet Parkins (Norwich, Vt.) sealed the 25-19 set win for the Lyons.
It was all Mount Holyoke College in the fourth set, as a strong serving run from Lucie Berclaz (Kyogo, Japan) gave the hosts a 6-1 lead to begin the frame. From there, a kill from Davis and back-to-back aces from Burns made it 13-3 Mount Holyoke before kills from Crosby and Abeja pushed the Lyons' advantage to 17-4. Closing out the set, the Rams committed three errors and Mount Holyoke claimed the 25-9 victory to force a fifth set.
Framingham State jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in the final frame before kills from Davis, Abeja and Crosby made it a 5-5 game. From there, Framingham State pushed it to 9-6 before another three-point spurt from Mount Holyoke including a kill from Bishop made it 10-10. The Lyons then took a 14-12 lead on three-straight attack errors from the visitors, but a kill from Morgan Failla sealed the 16-14 set victory and 3-2 match win for Framingham State.
Framingham State 3, SUNY Cobleskill 1 -- Game Two
Led by 16 kills from Hailey Sanders, Framingham State picked up their second win of the day as the Rams defeated SUNY Cobleskill, 3-1, at Howard Gymnasium on the campus of Mount Holyoke College. With the win, Framingham State is now 2-3 on the year while the Fighting Tigers fell to 0-5 overall.
Framingham State jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first set before Cobleskill came racing back to make it 7-6 on a kill from Abigail Scheurich. From there, the Rams responded with a 3-0 run to take a 10-6 lead, before Sanders picked up a kill that gave Framingham State a 16-9 advantage. Another kill from Sanders made it 23-17, Rams, late in the frame which helped the 25-19 set victory.
Cobleskill rattled off the first four points of the second set before a 7-1 run from the Rams gave Framingham State an 8-5 cushion early. After a service error made it 12-10, Framingham went on a 4-0 run capped by an ace from Morgan Failla, before back-to-back kills from Sanders and Brandee Thomas gave the Rams a 21-12 lead. Mackenzie Larson picked up an ace to force match point before an attack error from the Fighting Tigers gave Framingham a 2-0 match lead.
Cobleskill was able to claim the third set to make it a 2-1 match, but Framingham came out and traded early points before taking an 11-8 lead on a kill from Failla. Knotted at 23 all, Valerie Sullivan and Thomas produced kills that sealed the four-set win for Framingham State.
Mount Holyoke 3, SUNY Cobleskill 0 -- Game Three
Senior outside hitter Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.) produced a team-best eight kills and McKenna Crosby (Jonesborough, Tenn.) and Willet Parkins (Norwich, Vt.) chipped in seven apiece as the Lyons picked up their second win of the season, a three-set sweep of SUNY Cobleskill at Howard Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
Junior Marion Abeja (Kumi, Uganda) led the Lyons with 15 digs, while Chelsea Galicia (Altadena, Calif.) and Barah Burns (Los Angeles, Calif.) combined for 24 more digs in the win. Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas) directed the Lyons' offense to a .221 hitting percentage and handed out 21 assists to cap off an impressive day for the blue and white.
Mount Holyoke jumped out to an early 6-1 lead on a kill from Abeja before the Fighting Tigers clawed back into the contest on a kill from Jillian Mueller to make it 7-5, hosts. Leading 10-8, the Lyons went on a 5-1 run including a service ace from Walden that gave Mount Holyoke a 15-9 cushion midway through the frame. From there, an ace from Galicia made it 18-12, followed by aces from Burns and Abeja that made it 22-15, Lyons. Wrapping up the first set, Crosby, Parkins and Bishop all produced consecutive kills, granting Mount Holyoke the 25-16 set victory.
Much like in the first set, the Lyons jumped out to an early lead in the second as a 6-0 run early capped by a kill from Walden gave the hosts a 14-6 lead. Mount Holyoke College pushed the lead to 11 on a kill from Abeja before Burns picked up another ace, followed by an attack error that gave the Lyons a 23-11 advantage. Crosby would give the Lyons match point before Cobleskill had a service error that solidified the 2-0 match lead for Mount Holyoke.
Back-to-back kills from Bishop allowed Mount Holyoke to take an early 10-5 lead in the third set, before Cobleskill crawled back once again and made it a 10-9 game on an attack error from the Lyons. Mount Holyoke responded with a 4-0 run to take a 17-12 lead before a kill from Parkins followed by an ace from Walden made it 24-17, Lyons. Mount Holyoke then forced an attack error to close out the match, 3-0.
