SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team took a 1-0 lead against Emerson College and led 19-16 in the second set, but the visiting Lions rallied to take the second set and win the next two for a 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-17) victory over the host Lyons in the NEWMAC opener for both teams on Tuesday night.
Mount Holyoke (7-5, 0-1 NEWMAC) remains winless all-time in 13 matches against Emerson (7-5, 1-0 NEWMAC).
Shirley Yu had 17 kills with a .297 attack percentage, and Rachel Dickerson had 13 kills on a .263 percentage to lead Emerson to its fourth straight victory. Chloe Hokenson added seven kills to go with 24 assists, three aces and nine digs.
Senior Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) had 17 kills in the match, including the 1,000th of her career early in the second set. Barton becomes the second player in program history with 1,000 kills, joining team record holder Emily Groth '07 (1,139).
Senior Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) had 13 kills and sophomore Olivia Murray (Miami, Fla.) added 10. Barton (15 digs) and Rimando (13 digs) both recorded double-doubles on the night. Senior Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) had a match-high 32 assists.
Barton paced the Lyons to their first-set victory with five kills, while first-year Milan Dansoh (Davie, Fla.) added three kills and two blocks. Mount Holyoke attacked at a .370 rate in the opening set, but dipped to a .122 mark in the second set, .042 in the third and .067 in the fourth.
Emerson finished out the second set with a 9-4 run to tie the match at 1-1, including two kills by Dickerson and Yu with a kill on set point. Yu had five kills in the set, and Dickerson had four. Barton also had five kills in the set, while Rimando and Murray had four apiece.
Mount Holyoke built a 10-5 early lead in the third set, but the Lions' 11-3 run gave them a 16-13 lead. The score was tied at 18-18 before Emerson again finished out the set with a run, outscoring Mount Holyoke 7-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Lauren Yoo assisted Dickerson to make it 23-19 before serving consecutive aces to clinch the set.
Hokenson delivered five kills with no errors in addition to six assists in the fourth and final set for Emerson, which attacked at a match-high .321 mark in the frame.
Both teams return to action on Saturday, with Mount Holyoke hosting Salve Regina at 1pm and Emerson hosting Clark at noon.
