NEWTON, Mass. – After dropping the opening two sets, the Lesley University women's volleyball team stormed back to take the next two before dominating the fifth set to earn a 3-2 (24-26, 15-25, 25-16, 25-15, 15-2) non-conference win on the road at Mount Ida College.
The win is the third straight for the Lynx, who even their season record at 6-6, while the Mustangs fall to 5-9 overall in the loss.
Three sophomores led the way for the balanced Lynx offense that saw eight players record kills in the match. Ciara Bruning (Centerville, Mass.) knocked down a team-high six kills while classmates Anni Abbruzzese (Croton on Hudson, N.Y.) and Sarah Hollis (Hudson, Mass.) added five kills apiece, while Abbruzzese had six of the 13 service aces for Lesley. Lesley senior Danielle McDonald (Lilitz, Penn.) led all players with 25 digs.
Mustangs sophomore Mary Kate Reidy (Agawam, Mass.) led all players with a career-high 21 kills while senior Taylor Davis (Machiasport, Maine) posted 35 assists in the loss. Junior Molly Alkinburg (Port Deposit, Md.) finished with five kills and added four blocks and senior Kelcey Koolman (Bedford, N.H.) had 19 digs to lead the hosts.
After dropping the first two sets, Lesley never trailed in the third and used a 7-1 run capped by a McDonald kill to build a 16-9 lead. The Mustangs would pull to within three, 17-14, but a Bruning smash sparked an 8-2 streak to end the set and cut the hosts match lead in half.
The Lynx trailed 9-7 in the fourth before taking advantage of a slew of attacking errors by their hosts to stake a 19-12 edge in the set before evening the match at 2-2 with a 25-15 victory.
The fifth set was all Lesley as they leapt out to a 5-0 lead thanks to three service aces by the senior Emily Marden (Fremont, Calif.), who had five service aces, three kills and a team-high 21 assists. Abbruzzese served two more aces and Mount Ida made five errors as Lesley raced to the comeback win with the 15-2 fifth set triumph.
The Lynx will open up New England Collegiate Conference play on Saturday when they travel to New London, Conn. for a tilt with Mitchell College at 1:00p. Mount Ida will return to the court on Wednesday with a road match at Emmanuel College at 7:00p.