CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Daniel Webster College senior Joel Hendrix (Kane'ohe, Hawaii) slammed down a match-high 15 kills as the Eagles posted a 3-0 (25-20, 25-8, 25-20) victory over the Lynx tonight at the Nicholas Athletics Center. DWC ends their season at 5-13 overall and 5-7 in the New England Collegiate Conference while the Lynx, who wrap up their 2015 campaign on Saturday, drop to 1-19 on the year and 0-11 in the NECC.
Lesley University junior Tyler Burns (Newtown, Pa.) recorded 12 kills to lead the Lynx on the night and tied the program record for kills in a season with 191. The lefty-swinging sophomore is now just ten kills away from snapping the all-time kills record of 342, set by Nick Assad '10.
Burns swung .192 from the floor and added three digs to his line while junior Jess Cherry (Lancaster, Pa.) knocked down six kills to go with a team-best seven digs on the defensive side. Fellow junior Chris Barletta (Valrico, Fla.) finished with four kills for the Lynx while sophomore Mitchel Ulacco (Winchester, Mass.) set up the offense with 22 assists.
Eagles juniors Tommy Reyes (Providence, R.I.) and Darrien Mason (Farmington, Conn.) each finished with six kills while senior Kyle Lovering (Manchester, N.H.) added four for the visitors. DWC was on fire from the serving line as they hammered home 14 aces on the night, led by five from junior Ryan Howdeshell (Fairbanks, Alaska) and four apiece from Hendrix and Reyes. Howdeshell also led all players with 27 assists.
The Eagles held a 19-14 advantage in the opening set before the Lynx pulled to within one with a 4-0 spurt capped by a Burns kill, but the guests answered right back with a 4-0 run of their own as they held on for the 25-20 first set win. Hendrix wasted little time in getting himself going as he carried the Eagles in the first, notching four kills and all four of his aces.
DWC carried their momentum built late in the first right over into the second as they raced out a 12-1 lead and were in total control, running away with the 25-8 decision to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Once again it was Hendrix leading the offense as he recorded four kills on four attempts while Howdeshell registered five aces in the set.
It appeared as if the third set was heading in similar direction as the second as the Eagles once again took an early lead, scoring seven of the game's first eight points. Lesley would not go away, however, clawing their way back to within three points on seven different occasions. Late in the set, with the Eagles holding a 20-15 edge, the Lynx went on to score three of the next four points due in part to a pair of Burns kills to cut the deficit to 21-18. Once again, DWC had an answer as they quickly built their lead back so six with three straight points of their own as they went on to win the third 25-20 and the match 3-0.
DWC hit .279 on the evening while holding the Lynx to just a .025 percentage while the Eagles also held an advantage in kills (31-25), digs (26-20), aces (14-10), and total blocks (6-3).
Lesley will return to the court one final time in 2015 as they play host to Elms College at 2:00p on Saturday. The Lynx will look to avenge a 3-2 loss to the Blazers in the teams' first matchup of the season on March 23rd.