Wheaton Rallies to Top Wellesley Volleyball in Five

Wellesley seemed in control of the match, taking the first sets in convincing fashion, 25-12, and 25-17. The Blue hit over .300 in the first two sets combined, but went cold on the attack, hitting under .139 in each of the final three sets, including managing just a .038 hitting line in the fifth and deciding set.

The first set was tight through the early part, with Wellesley holding on to a slim 10-8 lead. From that point on, the Blue took over, as a nine-point serving run from Brooke Fieldman surged Wellesley to scoring 15 of the next 19 points. A pair of Sydney Carfagno kills ended the set with the Blue taking a 25-12 win.

The second set was much like the first, as Wellesley crept out to an early 9-7 lead, backed by a pair of kills from Carfagno. Another long serving run extended Wellesley's advantage to 19-9. Wheaton rallied late in the set, as Arieanne Creighton hammered back-to-back kills to bring Wheaton to within six at 19-3. Wellesley then surged again, as a pair of Fieldman kills and a Lyons attack error handed the Blue the set at 25-17.

From that point on, Wheaton took over. Wellesley took a 1-0 lead in the third set, but that was the last lead the hosts would hold until the fifth set. The Lyons surged in set three, opening up a 10-6 advantage early on, as Deirdre Wilson picked up three early points. After trading sideouts, Wheaton opened up a 20-10 lead on an impressive serving run from Jodi Katz. Wellesley made things interesting down the stretch, cutting the Lyon lead to 24-22, but Wheaton's Taylor Matook got the final kill, giving the visitors a 25-22 set win.

Set four had the same script, with Wheaton holding a lead from start to finish. The Lyons opened on a 5-0 run, as a pair of aces and two attack errors put Wellesley behind early. The Blue battled back to within one point at 7-6, 16-15, and 17-16, but Wheaton would not relinquish the advantage. The Lyons wet up 24-19 on a block, and then after trading sideouts, Wheaton's Wilson unleashed a rocket to end the set at 25-21.

In the fifth set, the teams stayed within a point of each other until a late surge put Wellesley up 14-10. The run was backed by a block from Courtney Lang and Caitlin Laughlin and a kill from Lang. Wheaton was able to re-gain control on another long service run from Katz, taking a 15-14 lead. The Lyons had a pair of match points denied by service errors before finally taking the set and the match on a Kendall Jacobs kill and a Wellesley hitting error.

Wheaton was led by an outstanding performance from Jacobs, who tallied 17 kills and just three errors, with all of her kills coming in the final four sets. Also for Wheaton, Creighton finished with 13 kills, while Deirdre Wilson added a triple-double with 28 assists, 19 digs and 10 kills. Olivia Wilson led all players with 30 digs, while Stephanie Martin added 11 in the win.

For Wellesley, Fieldman and Carfagno each tallied double-doubles. Fieldman finished with 15 kills and 10 digs, while Carfagno added 14 kills and a team-high 20 digs. Laughlin ended the match with 11 kills and five blocks, while Lang added seven kills and five blocks. Maddie Koh ran the offense and dished out 43 assists, while Taylor Jais added 13 digs in the loss.

Both teams continue their NEWMAC slate on Saturday. Wellesley heads to WPI for an 11:00am match before taking on Westfield State later in the afternoon. Wheaton travels to Mount Holyoke for a 1:00pm match.