SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team scored a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-20) non-conference victory over Emmanuel College before a vocal Senior Night crowd on Thursday night, guaranteeing the Lyons will finish with a winning record for the first time since the 1992 season.
The host Lyons (13-11) won their fifth straight and their seventh in the past eight matches. They wrap up their season Saturday at noon at NEWMAC opponent Emerson College.
Emmanuel dropped to 7-16 with their fifth loss in a row.
Four Lyons attackers -- first-year Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.), senior Mar Simon (Miami, Fla.), senior Marion Abeja (Kumi, Uganda), and first-year Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) -- combined for 39 kills on a .320 attack percentage for the match.
Seana Phillips led the Saints with 13 kills on 29 attempts (.345), while Kerry Shea added eight kills and 17 digs. Rachel Coleman passed out 24 assists.
Barton racked up 12 kills with only one error on 24 swings (.458) to lead the Lyons attack, to go along with 12 digs. Simon contributed 10 kills and a team-high 16 digs. Abeja had nine kills, 14 digs and two aces, and Rimando posted eight kills against one error on 17 swings (.412) as well as three blocks in the match. First-year setter Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) had 34 assists and nine digs.
Mount Holyoke prevailed in a close first set, where neither team led by more than three points until Abeja's kill at 24-21 clinched the 1-0 lead for the hosts.
In the second set, Emmanuel closed its gap to 14-12 with a kill by Wiktoria Galazyn before Mount Holyoke went on a 5-0 run with Abeja serving, and the Lyons led by no fewer than four points the rest of the way. Barton, Simon and Rimando all had kills in the decisive run, and Abeja, the NEWMAC leader in aces per set, served up another ace for a commanding 19-12 lead. After back-to-back kills by Phillips closed the gap to 24-20, a Barton kill moved Mount Holyoke into a 2-0 lead.
The third set was tied at 8-8 before Mount Holyoke seized the lead for good on a Barton kill. The Saints hung close at 16-14 before an Emmanuel bad set and a Simon ace started a 6-0 Mount Holyoke run, giving the hosts a 20-14 lead. Emmanuel stayed alive through three match points, thanks to two Lyons errors and another kill by Phillips, prompting a Mount Holyoke timeout. The Lyons then secured the win and the winning season on a kill by Abeja.
Mount Holyoke's four seniors -- Abeja, Simon, McKenna Crosby (Jonesborough, Tenn.) and Sierra West (Longmont, Colo.) -- all contributed to the win in their final home match in Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium.
