Wheaton volleyball opens home slate with 3-0 sweep against Salve Regina

September 4, 2008

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College women's volleyball team opened its home slate in strong fashion Thursday night, as the Lyons blanked Salve Regina University, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-19) in Emerson Gymnasium.

Winning four of its last five home openers, Wheaton evens its season mark at 2-2, while the Seahawks began their fall slate tonight.

A dozen ties and a separation of no more than four points headlined the opening set, with the Lyons scoring seven of the final nine points to overcome a 20-18 deficit. A service ace from sophomore Becca Rose (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) gave Wheaton the lead for good at 22-21, and senior Liana Merrill (Northwood, NH/Coe-Brown Northwood Academy) provided the winning kill.

In the second contest, Wheaton went on a 12-2 run to extend its 12-8 advantage into a commanding 24-10 lead. Behind strong service from Salve freshman Jessica Meyer (Seymour, CT/Seymour), the Seahawks got all the way back to 24-19 before a kill by first-year Miranda Howitt (San Francisco, CA/International) gave the Blue and White a 2-0 match lead.

The teams battled through eight ties in the early going of the final set, with the last coming at 17-all, but the Lyons scored the next six points on the strength of Howitt's service. Senior Caitlin Farr (Yarmouth, MA/Dennis-Yarmouth Regional) dropped down a kill to make it 24-19 before a Salve Regina miscue led to the winning point.

Howitt led the hosts with 10 kills, eight digs and three aces. Junior Lauren Kraus (Westboro, MA/Westboro) went over the 500-kill mark for her career, finishing with six to go alongside five aces and three blocks. Rose contributed 24 assists and 11 digs, freshman Emily Davisson (Carpinteria, CA/Laguna Blanca School) notched 18 digs, while sophomore Kristen Hunt (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) finished with 17 digs.

For the Seahawks, junior Deanna Salter (Westwood, MA/Westwood) had seven kills to lead the offense. Meyer accounted for six aces, senior Rachael Cirella (Jamestown, RI/North Kingstown) had 15 assists, and classmate Amanda Harmon (Dennis, MA/Dennis-Yarmouth Regional) added 22 digs.

On Saturday, Wheaton travels to Stonehill College for a tri-match with Connecticut College. The Lyons take on the hosts at 11:00 a.m. before facing the Camels at 1:00 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 9/6/08.
Questions about this page? Use our query form.

News Headlines

[an error occurred while processing this directive]