BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Lesley University women's volleyball team remained undefeated in New England Collegiate Conference play, outlasting Newbury College in a five set thriller tonight 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 26-24, 15-5) at the Hellenic Gym. The win was Lesley's fifth in a row and eighth in their last nine matches as they improve to 13-3 on the year and 5-0 in conference play while the Nighthawks fall to 14-8 overall and 4-2 in the NECC in the loss.
Junior setter Emily Marden (Fremont, Calif.) dished out a career-best 43 assists on the night, 17 of which set up kills for freshman Ciara Bruning (Centerville, Mass.) who swung an impressive .517 from the floor. Senior Danielle Johnson (Waterford, Conn.) and freshman Anni Abbruzzese (Croton on Hudson, N.Y.) both recorded double-doubles on the night as Johnson finished with 12 kills and 14 digs while Abbruzzese slammed down 11 kills to go with her team-best 18 digs. Marden also added 16 digs to her line for her ninth double-double of the season.
Sophomore Courtney Banks (Corono, Calif.) powered the Nighthawk offense with 15 kills while freshman Maya Umoren (Quincy, Mass.) finished with 13 kills. Heather Parish (Tucson, Ariz.) led the hosts with 39 assists while senior Meghan McDermott (Hampton, N.H.) dug out a match-high 24 digs to anchor the defense.
After splitting the first two sets, Newbury jumped ahead 2-1 in the match with a 25-23 third set victory. The Nighthawks trailed 22-19 before rattling off five in a row to go ahead 24-22. A Newbury service error interrupted the streak before Banks ended the set with a kill off a feed from Parish.
The Nighthawks were just two points away from winning the match in the fourth set as they led 23-20, but back-to-back kills from Johnson sparked a 6-2 run as the visitors stayed alive with the 26-24 set win.
The Lynx continued their momentum in the fifth and final set as they jumped out to a 6-2 lead before rolling to the 15-5 win for the match.
Lesley held a 56-45 edge in kills on the night and out-hit the hosts .143 to .082.
The Lynx will be back in NECC action as they host Becker College at 6:00p on Saturday, October 25th while the Nighthawks will return to the court on Wednesday, October 22nd when they host Southern Vermont College at 6:00p.