Women's Volleyball (12-10, 1-4) Splits Four Matches, Kraus Records 1,000th Kill

The Wheaton College women's volleyball team split four matches last week, dropping a 3-0 (18-25, 10-25, 20-25) decision at regionally-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday before senior captain Lauren Kraus (Westboro, MA/Westboro) recorded her 1,000th career kill during the Lyons' 2-1 showing on Saturday at the University of Massachusetts at Boston's Beacon Invitational. Wheaton began with a 3-0 (13-25, 21-25, 18-25) loss to regionally-ranked UMass-Boston before rallying past NEWMAC foe Babson College, 3-2 (23-25, 18-25, 33-31, 26-24, 15-11) and blanking Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 3-0 (25-5, 25-14, 25-10). Wheaton's seven five-set wins are its most in the last two decades, as the Lyons have gone as far as five sets nine times this fall, the most since the 1996 team played 11 such contests. Prior to this season, Wheaton had seven five-set wins in its previous 102 matches since 2005.

At MIT, which was ranked eighth in the New England Women's Volleyball Association (NEWVA) poll, sophomore Miranda Howitt (San Francisco, CA/International) totaled 11 kills and six digs, while Kraus added five kills. Junior Becca Rose (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) totaled 16 assists and six digs, classmate Kristen Hunt (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) had eight digs, and sophomore Emily Davisson (Carpinteria, CA/Laguna Blanca School) notched 12 digs and three aces.

Against UMass-Boston, which sits second in the NEWVA poll and is receiving national votes, Kraus' first kill propelled her to the 1,000-kill plateau, as she became the sixth Lyon to reach the milestone. Kraus finished with seven kills, while Howitt had 11 kills and eight digs. Rose collected 20 assists, and Davisson notched 10 digs.

Wheaton gained a measure of revenge for a five-set loss at Babson on September 22, when it was the Lyons who grabbed a 2-0 lead before falling, by rallying past the Beavers. Howitt collected 26 kills and 14 digs, becoming the first Lyon since 2000 to record a pair of 25-kill matches in the same season, as she set a school mark with 33 on September 24. Kraus added 15 kills, and Rose tallied 50 assists, 14 digs and four service aces. Davisson recorded 25 digs while dropping three aces, Hunt had 17 digs, and sophomore Lauren McGrath (Wading River, NY/Shoreham-Wading River) notched six blocks.

Versus Massachusetts Maritime, the Lyons totaled 17 aces. Rose finished with seven assists, seven kills and five aces, while Howitt turned in 10 kills, seven assists and six aces. Freshman Rachel Vergara (Needham, MA/Needham) tallied five helpers, Hunt added five digs, and Kraus notched three aces in one set of action.

Rose is third in program history in career assists (2,797) and seventh in aces (182), while Kraus is fifth in kills (1,021), seventh in blocks (263) and attacks (2,788), and 10th in aces (163). Hunt is sixth in digs (1,348). With 753 assists this fall, Rose has the program's 10th-highest single-season total.