CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Sophomore Jessie Reynolds (Londonderry, N.H.) knocked down ten kills while senior Katrina Stroganoff (Cedar Grove, N.J.) finished with a match-high 16 as the Lynx upended Newbury College in New England Collegiate Conference women's volleyball action tonight at Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols. Reynolds and Stroganoff each set career-highs as the Lynx move to 8-12 on the year and 4-1 in NECC play while the Nighthawks fall to 12-13 overall and suffer their first conference loss of the season, dropping to 5-1.
Junior Danielle Johnson (Waterford, Conn.) also set a career-high, dishing out 37 assists while sophomore's Katey Carew (Salem, N.H.) and Danielle McDonald (Lilitz, Pa.) each had 13 assists. Junior Anthea Rathjens (Sudbury, Mass.) and freshman Vanessa Smith (Somersworth, N.H.) each chipped in with eight kills in the win.
Leading the way for the Nighthawks was freshman Courtney Banks (Corona, Calif.) who finished with 15 kills while hitting a match-high .407 from the floor. Junior libero Meghan McDermott (Hampton, N.H.) had a match-high 25 digs while freshman McKenzie Kish (Eagle River, Ak.) led all players with 40 assists.
Newbury grabbed an early 1-0 lead in a back-and-forth first set that saw five ties and three lead changes. With Lesley leading 6-5, the Lynx would score five of the next six points, due in part to three Smith kills, to extend their lead to 11-5. Later in the set, the Lynx held a 14-10 advantage before the Nighthawks would score five unanswered and 11 of the next 17 points to knot things up at 21-21. The teams would exchange points before Newbury got back-to-back kills from freshman Lindsey Clark (River Edge, N.J.) and Banks to come back and take a 25-23 decision.
The two teams played a tight second set as well with neither team able to extend more than a three point lead and the score being tied 11 times. With Lesley trailing 23-22, Smith knocked down a huge kill to tie up the match once again at 23-23. The teams would exchange points before the Lynx took a 25-24 edge following a Newbury error and ended the set with a cross-court kill from Reynolds, tying the match at 1-1.
Lesley jumped out to a 4-1 advantage in the third and never trailed in the set. The Lynx hit .154 as a team in the set and received kills from five different players including four from Stroganoff and three from both Rathjens and Reynolds.
The Lynx and Nighthawks would exchange the first sixteen points in the fourth set before Lesley would open things up with an 8-2 run to grab a 16-10 advantage. The Green and White would not trail again as they rolled to a 25-17 fourth set win to seal the match 3-1.
Reynolds and Stroganoff led the home team with 17 digs apiece while the Lynx hit .162 from the floor as a unit.
Lesley returns to the floor on Thursday, October 17th when they play host to Wentworth in a non-conference battle at 8:00p while Newbury will travel to Wentworth on Saturday, October 19th for a 12:00p start.