Women's Volleyball (10-8, 1-3) Extends Win Streak to Five, Earns NEWMAC Victory

The Wheaton College women's volleyball team went 2-0 at home last week, opening play with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-17) victory over Smith College on Tuesday during New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play. The Lyons extended their winning streak to five by rallying past Eastern Connecticut State University, 3-2 (19-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-19, 16-14) on Friday. Wheaton's six five-set victories are its most since totaling six in 33 matches during the 1996 season. The Lyons have gone as far as five sets eight times this fall, the most since the 1996 team played 11 such contests. Prior to this season, Wheaton had a total of six five-set wins in its previous 72 matches dating back to 2006.

The Lyons snapped a nine-match losing skid to Smith by sweeping the Pioneers. Senior Lauren Kraus (Westboro, MA/Westboro) totaled 11 kills, and sophomores Miranda Howitt (San Francisco, CA/International) and Lauren McGrath (Wading River, NY/Shoreham-Wading River) had nine and six, respectively. Junior Becca Rose (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) turned in 31 assists, while sophomore Emily Davisson (Carpinteria, CA/Laguna Blanca School) and junior Kristen Hunt (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) collected 16 and 15 digs, respectively.

Howitt led Wheaton with 15 kills and 10 digs against Eastern Connecticut State, and McGrath had eight kills and five blocks. Kraus finished with six kills, seven aces and four blocks. Freshman Olanna Nissim (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) added six kills and 10 digs, classmate Rachel Vergara (Needham, MA/Needham) totaled six kills and five blocks, while Rose had 40 assists and 14 digs. Davisson and Hunt contributed 14 and 13 digs, respectively.

Rose is third in program history in career assists (2,704) and ninth in aces (173), while Kraus is sixth in kills (994), seventh in blocks (260), eighth in attacks (2,713) and tied for 10th in aces (158). Hunt is seventh in digs (1,313). Kraus would become just the sixth player in program history with 1,000 kills.