SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Junior Elle Rimando had 17 kills and senior captain Lucie Berclaz recorded her 1,000th career dig as part of a 15-kill, 14-dig double-double, to help the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-18, 25-15, 24-26, 25-21) victory over the University of Hartford Friday night, in the first-ever meeting between the teams.
Berclaz, who played libero in her first two seasons before moving to outside hitter for the past two seasons, began the match with 986 career digs. Her 1,000th career dig came on her final dig of the night, helping to set up first-year Olivia Murray's (Miami, Fla.) kill to give the Lyons a 23-19 lead in the fourth set. A Berclaz kill put the Lyons up 24-20, and a kill by Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) sealed the victory.
Mount Holyoke rose to 9-7, while the visiting Hawks dropped to 7-8.
Rimando had a monster match for the Lyons, reaching a career-high in kills while committing only one attack error on 34 attempts, for a sparkling .471 attack percentage. The Lyons attacked at .207 as a team, their third time this season over the .200 plateau.
Junior Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) got into the double-double act as well posting 15 kills and 12 digs. Junior Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) had 46 assists and three kills, and sophomore Kyra Staples (Chatham, Ill.) had a match-high 24 digs.
Jordan Murphy had 11 kills and Sydney Ball had 10 kills and 18 digs for Hartford.
Rimando set the tone early with five kills in the opening set. Barton followed with a scorching second set, with six kills on six swings, as the Lyons pulled away from the Hawks comfortably in each of the first two sets.
An ace served by senior Dinanyelin Martinez (Bronx, N.Y.) had the Lyons ahead 21-16 in the third set and primed for the sweep. But the Hawks scored five straight to tie the set at 21. The Lyons pulled back ahead 23-21, but Hartford answered with three straight points to assume a 24-23 lead. After a Berclaz kill retied the set, the Hawks got a kill from Ball and an ace by Juliana Robinshaw to extend the match to the fourth set.
Having found better footing, Hartford led for much of the fourth set, and held an 18-15 edge on a kill by Murphy. After a Lyons timeout, they scored six straight points, including two kills by Barton and one kill apiece by Murray and Duffrin. A thunderous kill by Rimando ended the match.
The Lyons will host Wheaton College in a NEWMAC match Tuesday at 7pm.
