South Hadley, Mass. - October 8, 2021 - The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team fell to local-foe Western New England, 3-0, in Howard Gymnasium, as the Lyons and Golden Bears squared off in non-conference play on Friday evening.
With the loss, the Lyons fall to 3-12 overall, while Western New England is now 9-7 on the year. The Golden Bears were victorious by the set scores of 25-19, 25-19, 26-24.
Mount Holyoke College was led by seven kills, six assists, four service aces and eight digs from Marion Abeja (Kumi, Uganda), while Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.) added five kills and five digs in the setback. Senior libero Chelsea Galicia (Altadena, Calif.) led the Lyons with 16 digs and junior middle McKenna Crosby (Jonesborough, Tenn.) registered six total blocks, a match best mark.
Western New England's Nina Sullivan recorded a match-high nine digs, while first-year setter Taylor Geist was impressive, handing out 27 assists while also grabbing five service aces, eight digs and four kills.
Abeja's tough serving stymied the Golden Bears to begin the match as the junior provided the Lyons with an early 9-0 run to take a 12-6 advantage, before the visitors answered with an 8-2 run to even the score at 15 apiece. From there, Brayden Walden (McKinney, Texas) added a kill and Abeja delivered one late but the Golden Bears prevailed in the first set, 25-19.
Western New England jumped out to a 14-5 lead in the second set despite a pair of kills from Abeja early in the frame. The Golden Bears earned set point, holding a 24-11 lead, and the Lyons came storming back to make it a six-point game after kills from Crosby and Abeja. On the next point, the Golden Bears would close out the 25-19 set victory and take a 2-0 match lead.
The third set was back-and-forth in the early stages of the frame, as a kill from Bishop made it 12-9, Mount Holyoke. From there, Western New England put together a 5-0 run to take a 14-12 lead, before the Lyons answered with four-consecutive points including a kill from Gabi Davis (Keller, Texas) and an ace from Crosby to give the hosts a 16-12 advantage.
After an ace from Galicia made it 20-18, Lyons, Western New England's Sarah Scott picked up a pair of kills to give the visitors a 21-20 lead, before a service error from Mount Holyoke gave the Golden Bears match point at 24-22. Crosby then picked up another kill and backed it up with an ace to pull the Lyons even at 24, but a kill and a service ace from Petty closed out the match for Western New England, 3-0.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College returns to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday, October 12 and will host Springfield College at 7 p.m. in Howard Gymnasium.
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