DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team regained its winning record with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 25-27, 25-21) victory over Roger Williams University on Saturday, earning a split of two matches on the day and finishing with a 1-2 record at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational.
Mount Holyoke (5-4) began the day with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-22) defeat at the hands of tournament host UMass-Dartmouth. On Friday night, the Lyons opened the tournament with a 3-0 loss to UMass-Boston.
The Lyons will return to action on Tuesday, when they open NEWMAC play at Smith College starting at 7pm.
Recap: UMass-Dartmouth 3, Mount Holyoke 0
The Lyons started off the morning slowly, falling behind 10-3 in the opening set against the Corsairs (5-4) with several attacking and service errors. But they seemed to reverse things with suddenly inspired play and went on a 17-9 run to take a 20-19 lead. The Lyons pushed their lead to 22-20 and 23-21, both on kills by sophomore Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.). But the Corsairs responded with three straight points, including kills by Devon Laing and Chelsea Sanker, to retake the lead at 24-23. Another Barton kill tied the score at 24-24, but Kate Wade rang up her eighth and ninth kills of the set to clinch an important set victory for UMass-Dartmouth.
Mount Holyoke fell behind 9-5 in the second set and could get no closer as UMass-Dartmouth assumed a 2-0 lead.
A more defensive-minded approach by both sides in the third set resulted in a slew of rallies and a close score throughout the frame, including six ties and three lead changes.
Sophomores Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) and Barton tied for the team lead in kills in the match, with nine apiece, while Barton added 15 digs and three blocks. First-year Kyra Staples (Chatham, Ill.) led the Lyons with 18 digs and three aces, while sophomore setter Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) totaled 28 assists and nine digs. Junior captain Lucie Berclaz (Hull, Mass.) had seven kills and 12 digs in the match. First-year middle hitter Katie Frank (Prairieville, La.) had four blocks in the match.
Wade led UMass-Dartmouth with 16 kills, and Laing added 10.
Recap: Mount Holyoke 3, Roger Williams 0
Barton had a season-high 20 kills and Frank added a season-best 13 kills, while Rimando put down eight kills with one error on 22 attempts (.318) in Mount Holyoke's sweep of the Hawks (3-5).
Sophomore Amelia Ringor (Lafayette, Ind.) led the back row with a career-high 26 digs, four assists and four service aces, while Berclaz added 24 digs and four kills. Duffrin had a season-high 41 assists to go with nine digs in the win.
The Lyons fell behind to the Hawks 13-9 and 16-13 in the opening set, before taking over the lead with a comeback fueled by four kills by Frank. Mount Holyoke took leads of 21-18 and 23-19 on kills by Barton, then closed out the set win with kills by Rimando at 23-20 and 24-21.
Mount Holyoke took over the lead in the second set at 5-4 on a kill by Duffrin, starting a 5-1 run. Roger Williams went on a 7-1 run later in the set to close within 21-20, but Mount Holyoke responded by scoring the set's final four points, including kills by Barton at 22-20 and 24-20.
Mount Holyoke relinquished leads of 13-9 and 18-13 in the third set, as Roger Williams closed out the set with a 10-3 run, making it a 2-1 match after three sets.
Mount Holyoke clinched the win in the fourth set, attacking at a match-best percentage of .222 but allowing Roger Williams a match-best percentage of .152.
Ringor served up two aces in a mid-set run by the Lyons that carried them from a 10-7 deficit to a 13-10 lead that they would not relinquish. Ringor scored match point with another ace, following back-to-back kills by Frank and Barton.
