No. 17 MIT SWINGS PAST WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL IN STRAIGHT SETS

THE BASICS:

- Score: No. 17 MIT 3, Emmanuel College 0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-10)

- Records: No. 17 MIT (19-1); Emmanuel (5-12)

- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Rockwell Cage)

- The Lead: On the strength of a .519 hitting performance, nationally-ranked No. 17 MIT defeated local foe Emmanuel College, 25-11, 25-13, 25-10, in a non-conference women's volleyball match Thursday night. Junior Abby Bertics (La Jolla, Calif.) led all players with 13 kills while hitting .722 for the Engineers.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- After a tight start to the first set, MIT inched out to an 11-7 lead courtesy of a kill by sophomore Shea Landeene (Phoenix, Ariz.). A serving error kicked off an exchange of points that saw Samantha DeMarco's kill bring Emmanuel within 13-10. This was as close as it would get as a Bertics kill ignited a 12-1 set-ending run.

- The Engineers raced out to a 6-1 advantage in the second stanza but the Saints narrowed the gap to two on three occasions, the last at 8-6 on a kill by Marissa Cataldo. Bertics replied with a kill of her own and then collaborated with freshman Emily Condon (Orange, Calif.) on a block, fueling a string of seven unanswered points which eventually resulted in a 25-13 victory.

- MIT claimed six of the first seven points of the third set and maintained a comfortable cushion en route to a 25-10 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Sophomore Alexis Groark (Huntington, N.Y.) posted 10 kills while Landeene finished with nine kills and a .533 hitting performance. Junior Carly Staub (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.) recorded seven kills, a .778 hitting percentage, and two blocks as Condon produced five kills and three blocks in two sets. Junior Carly Silvernale (Bellevue, Wash.) collected a match-high nine digs to go along with two aces while freshman Francesca Macchiavello (Lexington, Ky.) bolstered the back row with six digs. Freshman Andie Maloney (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) dished out 12 assists in the first set as junior Christina Liao (Warren, N.J.) wrapped up the match with 24 assists and eight digs.

- Mary Shelow paced Emmanuel with five kills, followed by four from DeMarco. Shannon Carroll generated three blocks while Emily Matozel earned two of her own. Carly Church notched eight assists and four digs as Madison Majewski distributed five assists. Katharine Journeay rounded out the squad with six digs.

UP NEXT:

• Both squads are on the road for their next outings. MIT will visit NEWMAC foe Clark University on Tuesday, Oct. 10 while Emmanuel will travel to GNAC rival Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Saturday, Oct. 7 for a tri-match that includes Salve Regina University.

*Recap courtesy of MIT Sports Information Dept.