NORTON, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team clinched the seventh seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament on Saturday, coming back from a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2 (25-23, 15-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-8) at Wheaton College.
The visiting Lyons' (15-13, 5-6 NEWMAC) landmark win sent them to postseason play for the first time since 2006, meanwhile stopping the host Lyons' (12-17, 3-8 NEWMAC) bid to get in.
"I'm so proud of the team for trusting the process, the systems....themselves and each other," said head coach Iris Carpio. "Every single team member was invested, and it's been so much fun and an honor as a coaching staff to watch them navigate the process and ultimately achieve the goal they set for themselves."
With the Smith/Wellesley match being played an hour later, Wheaton needed to win in four sets or better to clinch a playoff berth, or a 3-2 win if Wellesley were to defeat Smith.
Because Smith wound up defeating Wellesley, Mount Holyoke would still have gotten into the tournament as the eighth seed. But they made it the much more desirable way, removing all doubts with the comeback win.
The win also guarantees the Lyons a winning record, for the second time in four years and only the second time since 1992.
Mount Holyoke senior Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) finished with a career-high 25 kills, and was the dominating force in the first set, where the Lyons picked up their first point, with eight kills on 13 attempts (.462).
Wheaton turned the tables in the second set, ending the frame with an 11-3 run to tie the match at 1-1. Celina Henn had five kills on just six swings in the set to pace Wheaton.
Barton, Mount Holyoke's career kills record-holder, had six kills in a tight third set, but Wheaton finished with a 4-1 run, with two kills by Sydney Lyon, to move into the driver's seat in the match, with a 2-1 lead. Lyon had five kills on 10 attempts in the set (.400).
Senior Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) had been relatively quiet until the fourth set, when the conference kills champion exploded for nine kills on 12 attempts (.750), propelling the match into a fifth set.
Mount Holyoke maintained a slim lead against Wheaton from 12-11 on in the fourth set. Both teams hit at their highest rates of the match in the fourth set, as Mount Holyoke, at .345, was slightly less efficient than Wheaton at .367.
Mount Holyoke put a stamp on the regular season with a dominant fifth set. The Lyons built a 5-2 lead with four kills by Rimando, then turned to sophomore Olivia Murray (Miami, Fla.) for three more kills en route to an 11-5 lead. Barton bookended the victory by scoring the Lyons' 14th and 15th points with two final kills, which gave her a new career high total from her former standard of 23. It was Barton's fifth 20-kill performance of the season and the 13th of her career.
Not to be overlooked amidst the team's historic success was Mount Holyoke's career digs record being broken. Junior Kyra Staples (Chatham, Ill.), with another season still to play, broke Mount Holyoke's former record of 1,187 digs set by Kaleen Iwema in 2014 during the third set and is the new program record holder, now at 1,192. Staples had a team-high 16 digs in the contest.
Murray had 10 kills and a career-high seven digs for Mount Holyoke, and senior setter Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.), Mount Holyoke's all-time assists leader, had a career-high 49 assists in her final regular-season match.
Rimando finished with 20 kills on 41 attempts (.220), her fifth 20-kill match of the season, to go with a career-high 14 digs. It was Rimando's 13th straight match with double-digit kills, and her 24th of the season.
Henn led Wheaton with 15 kills, while Lyon and Mary Caroline Mazzanti had 13 kills apiece. Julia Wingler had three solo blocks and nine block assists as Wheaton had a season-high 16 team blocks.
As the No. 7 seed in the NEWMAC Tournament, Mount Holyoke will play at No. 2 seed Babson (20-6, 10-1 NEWMAC) in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday night.
