Women's Volleyball (17-13, 2-5) Splits Four Matches, Kraus Named All-Tournament

The Wheaton College women's volleyball team went 2-2 last week, dropping a 3-0 (20-25, 23-25, 17-25) decision to visiting Wellesley College on Tuesday in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play before going 2-1 over the weekend during the Hall of Fame Tournament at Mount Holyoke College. The Lyons finished fifth out of eight squads in the silver bracket after falling to Bridgewater State College, 3-0 (18-25, 23-25, 20-25) on Friday but downing Gordon College, 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-13, 25-19) and Colby College, 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-22) on Saturday. For her efforts, senior Lauren Kraus (Westboro, MA/Westboro) was named all-tournament. With two NEWMAC matches remaining, Wheaton is tied for sixth in the conference, as the top eight teams qualify for the tournament.

Against Wellesley, which was ranked 11th regionally by the New England Women's Volleyball Association (NEWVA), sophomore Miranda Howitt (San Francisco, CA/International) totaled 14 kills and seven digs, Kraus added nine kills, and junior Becca Rose (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) had 34 assists and seven digs. Sophomore Emily Davisson (Carpinteria, CA/Laguna Blanca School) and junior Kristen Hunt (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) tallied 14 and 13 digs, respectively.

Howitt led the Lyons with 10 kills against Bridgewater State, while Kraus added eight. Rose turned in 26 assists, and Davisson had 12 digs. Sophomore Lauren McGrath (Wading River, NY/Shoreham-Wading River) contributed four blocks.

Kraus totaled 15 kills and four blocks against Gordon, while Howitt and McGrath added 11 kills apiece. Rose contributed a double-double with 42 assists and 13 digs, Davisson and freshman Olanna Nissim (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) paced the defense with 16 digs apiece, and Hunt had 13.

Versus Colby, Kraus turned in another well-rounded line with 13 kills, five aces and three blocks. Howitt provided 15 kills and seven digs, while Rose dished off 40 assists. Davisson, Hunt and Nissim tallied 14, nine and eight digs, respectively, while freshman Rachel Vergara (Needham, MA/Needham) matched Kraus with three blocks.

Rose is third in program history in career assists (3,088) and seventh in aces (200), while Kraus is fourth in attacks (3,015), fifth in kills (1,112) and sets played (454), seventh in blocks (280) and 10th in aces (178). Hunt is fifth in digs (1,431). Rose has totaled the program's fourth-highest single-season assist total (1,044) this fall, becoming the first player in Wheaton history with multiple 1,000-assist seasons, while Howitt is eighth in attacks (1,131) with the most since 2000. Howitt is also ninth in kills (408), having recorded the most by a Lyon since 2000 and the highest figure by an underclassman since 1998.