SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Madeline Barton had 17 kills and Sadie Duffrin added eight service aces, three kills, 31 assists and 10 digs as the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team defeated the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 25-9) in the Lyons' first home match of the season on Thursday night.
Mount Holyoke (2-1) racked up 18 aces in the match and received serves at a .969 rate, earning a big leg up over MCLA in the serving category.
First-year Katie Frank (Prairieville, La.) posted nine kills and two blocks for the Lyons, and sophomore Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) tallied eight kills and two blocks.
Anais Badio led MCLA (2-2) with 10 kills, while Chloie Garber and Audrey Melson added nine and seven kills, respectively. Garber also had 13 digs, while Elizabeth Brown added 14 digs and seven kills.
The first set of the night featured 10 ties and five lead changes. At 20-20, Frank's kill turned service to Barton (Brookfield, Wis.), who served out the set as Frank, junior Lucie Berclaz (Hull, Mass.) and Barton posted consecutive kills, and Barton's ace closed out the set for a 1-0 Mount Holyoke lead.
Mount Holyoke built a 10-2 lead to start the second set, but MCLA closed the gape to 14-12. The second set was even between the sides, with Mount Holyoke attacking at .159 and MCL attacking at .158. A pair of aces by Duffrin gave MHC more breathing room at 21-15, and the Lyons scored the last three points of the set on an MCLA service error, a kill by Barton, and finally a block by Rimando and first-year Serina Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.).
MCLA fell behind 15-11 in the third set, but tied the score at 16-16. The third set included eight ties and five lead changes, but the Trailblazers took the lead for good at 22-21, and got their last two points with a kill by Melson and a Mount Holyoke attack error. For the set, the Trailblazers attacked more efficiently than Mount Holyoke, .194 to .075. Melson had four kills in the set for the visitors.
After allowing MCLA back into the match at 2-1, Mount Holyoke quickly shut the door in the fourth set, taking the lead for good at 2-1 and going on a decisive 10-0 run midway through the set with Rimando serving. Barton had three kills in the run and Frank added one more. MCLA interrupted the run with a kill by Melson, closing the score to 21-7, but Mount Holyoke responded with a side-out on a kill by Frank. Barton served up an ace at 24-9 to clinch the victory.
Mount Holyoke will play a pair of matches at Elms College on Saturday, facing Framingham State at 1pm and Elms at 3pm. MCLA will host Norwich Saturday at noon.
