WENHAM, MA—Lesley University dropped both of their matches today, 3-0, to Gordon College and Salem State University in a tri-match hosted by Gordon. With the pair of losses, the Lynx fall to 6-12 on the year.
Coming home was just the thing to get the Scots back on track in what has been an up-and-down 2013 season. Gordon won handily at Mass. Maritime on Tuesday, but Saturday's slate looked to be a bit tougher on the Scots.
The Scots were slow out of the gate in the opener against Salem State, as the Vikings jumped out to the early 10-8 lead. However, Gordon overcame a few mistakes to keep the game within striking distance. With the match tied at 16 points a side, the Scots finally made their move, winning nine of the final 13 points to take the first set 25-20.
Salem State responded from their early defeat to Gordon College by rolling to a 3-0 win over Lesley. The Vikings were more efficient on offense and their scores reflected their solid play.
MacKenzie Carpenter put up 28 assists in the win over the Lynx and Emily Peay led the way with 11 kills and two blocks for the Vikings. They cruised to a 25-13, 25-23, 25-21 victory to improve to 3-10 on the season.
Danielle Johnson (Waterford, Conn.) had nine assists and an assisted block in the loss for Lesley while Katrina Stroganoff (Cedar Grove, N.J.) and Anthea Rathjens (Sudbury, Mass.) each had four kills. Sophomore Danielle McDonald (Lilitz, Pa.) had a match-high 20 kills for the Lynx.
After a three-hour layover, Gordon took their home court again versus the visiting Lynx. The Scots were ready to play in the final match, as they won the first set 25-8 quickly, to make a resounding statement to their opponent.
Gordon kept enough distance between the Lynx and them the rest of the way, winning the final two sets 25-17 and 25-20, to secure the win. The Scots capped off a perfect week and kept a three-match win streak going with their impressive showing on Saturday. They improve to 9-11 overall, while the Lynx fall to 6-12 with two losses.
Lauren Kranyak (Locust Grove, Va.) finished with 52 assists between the two games, with Laura Schmidt (Stuart, Fla.) being on the finishing side on many of them. Schmidt led all Scots with 21 kills on the day, while Jessica Burdick (Brewerton, N.Y.) and Jenna Labbadia (Berlin, Conn.) finished with 12 and 11 kills respectively.
The Lynx will look to get back on the winning track with a New England Collegiate Conference match with Bay Path College at Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols tomorrow at 12:00p.