Seahawks bounce back, Lyons pull ahead 3-2

NEWPORT, R.I.-- Salve Regina women's volleyball came back from a 2-0 deficit against Wheaton College, however the Lyons efforts in the fifth set put them ahead for a final score of 3-2 Tuesday night. 

Wheaton got the first two points of the day but two service errors for the Lyons got the Seahawks on the board. Wheaton saw a little, four-point run after making two kills, a service ace and Salve Regina had an attack error. This brought the score to 8-4 with the Lyons leading. The Seahawks answered with a run of their own later in the contest. Lucy Swanson and Siena DeCicco added to the team's kill totals, decreasing the Wheaton lead from 14-8 to 14-12. After a kill from Sydney Ramsey the teams were tied 24-24 but the deciding factor was two Wheaton Kills, first by Celina Henn and the second from Hollis Hanson for a final first-set score of 26-24. 

Set two was another close match, with both teams reaching 25-25. The Seahawks made an attack error and Wheaton's Hollis Hanson made a kill at the right time for Wheaton, which gave the Lyons a 27-25 upper hand. The Seahawks came back fighting in the third set and bested the Lyons 25-22. Although Wheaton made it on the board first, Salve Regina quickly matched the Lyons. Late Wheaton errors combines with strong efforts at the net put the Seahawks ahead. 

Going into the fourth set Wheaton was ahead 2-1. The early score quickly became 3-3, however Ramsey's kill and two Lyon errors gave the Seahawks a three-point lead. From there Brighton Solheim, Lydia Daskalos, and DeCicco delivered critical kills. Swanson provided the final Wheaton blow, making the score 25-19 in favor of the Seahawks. 

With one 15-point set remaining, Wheaton took advantage of the opportunity to score and got ahead 4-0 early. The Lyons had 11 kills and had a fourth set hitting percentage of .435 which is what put the team ahead, and ultimately led to a 15-10 victory for Wheaton. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP (24-26, 25-27, 25-22, 25-19, 10-15):
Final: Salve Regina 2, Wheaton 3
Record: Salve Regina (10-13), Wheaton (12-11)
All-Time Series: Salve Regina is 5-10 against Wheaton. In 2021, when the teams last saw each other the game had the same 3-2 outcome with Wheaton ahead.  

NOTEWORTHY: 

• Lucy Swanson had a stand-out day with 20 kills. 
• Brighton Solheim had ten kills, four aces, three blocks and 12 digs. 
• Siena DeCicco had 33 assists, four aces and two blocks. 
• Lauren Hoyle made ten kills. 
• Lydia Daskalos led the team's block efforts with four in total. 
• Kate Murphy had 11 digs and two assists. 

THOUGHTS FROM COACH NOORDZY: 

"After going down 2-0, we made an adjustment to our serving pressure to try to force Wheaton into out-of-system situations. We were able to force Wheaton into a lower hitting efficiency, allowing us to pick up a few more points in transition."

ON THE HORIZON: 

The next two games for the Seahawks are on Saturday, October 28. The tri-match is hosted by Plymouth State University and Salve Regina plays Westfield State University at 1 p.m. and Plymouth St. at 3 p.m.