Wheaton Tops Women's Volleyball in 2022 Opener, 3-0

NORTON, Mass. – First year outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) fired five aces and added four kills to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-11, 25-22, 25-23) victory over visiting Emmanuel College (Mass.) this afternoon at Emerson Gymnasium on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass. 

The Lyons improve to 2-0 on the season, while the Saints fall to 0-1 in their season opener.

Wheaton hit .226 for the match, while holding Emmanuel to a .000 hitting mark. 

Lyon tallied a team-high 9.5 points and added a block assist and a pair of digs for the Lyons, while senior outside hitter Emily Hickey (Kennebunk, Maine) led all players with eight kills on a .500 hitting mark to go with a dig. Senior setter Hannah George (Duxbury, Mass.) set for 27 assists, spiked for two kills and picked up five digs to go with three blocks. First year middle hitter Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) put down five kills in addition to an ace, three blocks and a dig and senior libero Sophie Wilhelm (Saunderstown, R.I.) picked up 16 digs.

Junior outside hitter Sasha Hyacinthe (Stoughton, Mass.) and senior outside hitter Kerry Shea (Tewsbury, Mass.) each put away six kills to lead the Saints. Shea also added four digs. Senior setter Rachel Coleman (Peabody, Mass.) set for 16 assists and got down for eight digs and senior libero Tatiana Correia (Peabody, Mass.) registered 14 digs and fired a trio of aces.

Wheaton raced out to a 13-3 lead in the opening set behind five aces and a kill from Lyon. The Lyons, who hit .391 for the set, maintained a 21-8 margin later in the frame after a Wilhelm ace. Emmanuel ripped off three straight points to cut the deficit to 21-11, but Wheaton scored the final four points of the set to take a 1-0 match lead.

The teams played within three points of each other through the first part of the second stanza, before Wheaton ripped off four straight points, including an ace from first year middle hitter Hollis Hanson (Parker, Colo.) to give the home team a 15-10 cushion. The Lyons held onto a 17-13 lead, before a 7-2 Saints run put them in front by a point at 20-19. Wheaton scored the next three points and the final three points, capped by a Hanson kill, to take the frame, 25-22.

The Lyons held an 8-7 edge in the final set, before the Saints scored eight unanswered points, including a pair of aces from Correia, to take their biggest lead of the day at 17-10. The visitors maintained a 21-14 advantage, but Wheaton rallied with seven straight points, capped by an ace from senior defensive specialist Ariana Rajaee (Marlborough, Mass.), to pull even at 21-21. Shea put down a kill for Emmanuel to reclaim the lead at 22-21, but the Lyons scored four of the last five points to take the set at 25-23 and the match at 3-0.

*Release courtesy of Wheaton Athletic Communications office