CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Lesley University junior Kaylee Deluga (Dennis, Mass.) was dominant as she finished with 15 kills, 11 digs, four blocks, and four aces to lead the Lynx to a 3-1 victory over Becker College in the New England Collegiate Conference opener this afternoon at the Nicholas Athletics Center.
Deluga's second straight double-double helped the Lynx snap a seven-game losing skid to improve to 3-9 overall and 1-0 in the NECC. Becker falls to 7-10 on the season and open conference play at 0-1.
Fellow junior Anni Abbruzzese (Croton on Hudson, N.Y.) also provided a punch on both sides of the ball as she also notched a double-double with 13 kills and 16 digs. Freshman Kelsey Dobbins (Henniker, N.H.) added a career-high seven kills while junior Sarah Hollis (Hudson, Mass.) and senior Jess Reynolds (Londonderry, N.H.) each added six. Reynolds also dug up 12 digs on the defensive side of the ball.
Becker senior Cheyenne Melanson (Sandown, N.H.) paced the Hawks attack with a team-best nine kills to go with seven digs. Junior Charlene Landry (Gorham, Maine), senior Marissa Turner (Coventry, R.I.), and sophomore Kayla Dupree (North Bergen, N.J.) each knocked down six kills. Landry and freshman Morgan Gould (North Attleboro, Mass.) handled the majority of setting duties, dishing out 19 and 13, respectively.
A tightly played opening set laid the foundation for a back-and-forth afternoon. Trailing 15-13, Lesley would score seven unanswered points, capped by a thunderous Dobbins kill, to pull ahead 20-15. After a pair of Hawks points, Lesley would answer with a quick 3-0 spurt before taking the first set 25-21. Lynx senior Vera Bednar (Helmond, Netherlands) set up the hosts' offense with eight of her match-high 26 assists coming in the opener.
Back-to-back Becker kills and an ace from sophomore Brittney Bullis (Stafford, Va.) would give the Hawks an eight point advantage late in the second set, 23-15. The Lynx would continue to fight, however, and use an 8-1 run to pull within one, 24-23, following a Reynolds slam. The comeback effort would come up just short as Melanson evened the match at 1-1 with her fourth kill of the set.
Late in the third set the Hawks used a 4-0 spurt to jump ahead 21-20, but the Lynx had another comeback in them as they answered with five straight to close the set out at 25-21.
Lesley would find themselves trailing once again in the fourth set as a kill by Becker freshman Sofia Cullina (Deep River, Conn.) gave the guests a 15-10 lead. Deluga and the Lynx would bounce back with a ferocious 15-3 run to close out the set, 25-18, and the match 3-1. Deluga was the main cog in the run as she slammed home five kills throughout the streak.
The Lynx will return to action on Thursday when they jump back out of conference for a matchup at Anna Maria College at 7:00p. Becker will kick off a three game homestand on Tuesday when they play to host to NECC foe Regis College at 7:00p.