CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Pine Manor Women's Volleyball dropped a three set match to visiting Lesley University in the Gators' home opener on Tuesday evening at Brunelli Gymnasium. The visiting Lynx took the match in straight sets; thanks to set score victories of 25-19, 25-18 and 25-21.
The win was the first in the collegiate ranks for Lynx head coach Jamee Stimson who is in her first season at the helm.
The Gators got out to an early lead in the first set but were unable to hold off the Lynx as serving errors plagued Pine Manor early in the match and often throughout the night. The Gators committed 19 service errors on the match to go along with eight aces as a team. Junior Destiny Mann led the Gators in both aces, with three, and kills, with seven, but was also one of six Gators to commit at least one service error in the match.
The Lynx scored their largest set victory of the night in the second set. Lesley led comfortably throughout the second frame before a late Pine Manor rally closed the gap to within four points. However, Lesley was able to close out for a 25-18 victory thanks in part to a balanced attacked that helped them put down 29 kills on the evening.
Five different Lesley players recorded at least five kills in the match. The Lynx were led by sophomore Danielle McDonald (Lilitz, PA), who tied for game-high honors in kills with seven and while also recording a game-high 12 digs. Danielle Johnson (Waterford, CT), Katrina Stroganoff (Cedar Grove,NJ), Vanessa Smith (Somersworth, NH) and Anthea Rathjens (Sudbury, MA) all finished with five kills for the Lynx. Johnson also finished with a match-high 22 set assists.
A back and forth third set saw the Lynx secure the victory despite another late push from the Gators. Back-to-back aces by Mann helped pull Pine Manor to within two, at 19-17, but again the Gators were unable to get past the Lynx. With the victory Lesley improves to 1-1 early on in the 2013 season, while PMC drops to 0-4.
For Pine Manor, Phalogne Pierre (Boston, MA) recorded six kills and a pair of assists while freshman setter Alexis Bushika (Adams, MA) dished out 12 assists of her own. Susan Le (Lowell, MA) finished with a team-high nine digs to lead the Gators on defense.
Pine Manor will return to action on Thursday evening when they host local rival Newbury College at 7:00 PM. Lesley will also be in action this Thursday, when they travel to Salem St. for a 7:30 PM match.