SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team defeated both of its opponents in a home tri-match on Saturday, including a 3-1 (25=15, 25-20, 19-25, 25-22) win over Salve Regina University in the first NEWMAC meeting between the schools.
The Lyons (7-5, 1-1 NEWMAC) capped the day with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-10, 25-13) non-conference win over Anna Maria College.
In between those two matches, Salve Regina (9-4, 0-2 NEWMAC) defeated Anna Maria (2-9) 3-0 on Mount Holyoke's home court in Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium.
Recap: Mount Holyoke 3, Salve Regina 1 (BOX)
Sophomore Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) had a monster effort against the Seahawks with 17 kills and only one attack error on 53 swings (.302), to go with 20 digs. Junior captain Lucie Berclaz (Hull, Mass.) had a team-high 24 digs to go with nine kills, and sophomore Amelia Ringor (West Lafayette, Ind.) posted 19 digs and four assists. Sophomore setter Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) totaled 33 assists, four kills and eight digs.
Lucy Swanson led Salve Regina with 12 kills, while Brighton Solheim added nine kills and 25 digs.
Mount Holyoke started the morning off hot, attacking at a .289 percentage in the first set against the visiting Seahawk, and earning a sideout on 12 of the Seahawks' 16 serves. The Lyons ran out to a 7-1 lead and coasted to the 10-point set win for a 1-0 lead. Berclaz had four kills and seven digs in the first set.
The second set was tied 20-20 after a Mount Holyoke attack error, but the Lyons finished on a 5-0 run, with back-to-back kills by Barton to finish out the set.
The Seahawks turned the tables on the Lyons in the third set, holding Mount Holyoke to a .100 attack percentage and hitting at a .229 clip themselves. Solheim served up the first seven points of the set as the Seahawks took leads of 7-0 and 20-6. Mount Holyoke made the set competitive, charging back within 23-19, before kills by Lauren Hoyle and Sydney Ramsey closed Salve Regina within a point of Mount Holyoke at 2-1.
Mount Holyoke led the fourth and final set from wire to wire. Salve closed the gap from 24-20 to 24-22 with a kill by Lucy Swanson and a Lyons ballhandling error, but Duffrin set up sophomore Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) for the kill on match point.
Mount Holyoke defeated Salve Regina for the first time in four meetings between the teams. The Seahawks joined the NEWMAC this year, making this the first NEWMAC match between them.
Recap: Mount Holyoke 3, Anna Maria 0 (BOX)
Rimando had 11 kills on 17 attempts (.488) and Barton added 10 kills as the Lyons easily swept the Amcats 3-0.
It was a bright match for some of Mount Holyoke's back-row defenders. Ringor had a match-high 20 digs and a career-high two kills. Junior Dinanyelin Martinez (Bronx, N.Y.) had four of Mount Holyoke's 12 service aces in the match, and added six digs and an assist.
Shae Savoie led Anna Maria (2-9) with five kills and 16 digs.
Anna Maria led Mount Holyoke 10-8 in the first and most competitive set, before the Lyons took the lead for good with back-to-back kills by Barton. Barton and Rimando had four kills apiece in the opening set, while Savoie had three for Anna Maria.
There were eight ties in the early going of the third and final set. A Rimando kill gave Mount Holyoke the lead for good with a kill at 9-8, and an ace by Rimando opened up a 17-11 lead for the Lyons. A kill by first-year Katie Frank (Prairieville, La.) forced match point at 24-13, and an Anna Maria attack error concluded the match. Frank finished with six kills.
Mount Holyoke will host Emerson College in a NEWMAC match on Tuesday at 7pm.
