2007 NEWMAC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT - Sixth-seeded Wheaton suffers sweep despite holding close with number three Springfield

October 30, 2007

SPRINGFIELD, MA- The sixth-seeded Wheaton College women's volleyball team fell at number three Springfield College, 3-0 (20-30, 25-30, 26-30) during the first round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament on Tuesday evening in Blake Arena. Despite holding close with the Pride in each of the final two games, the Lyons fell to 22-13 as they await word on a possible Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament bid. Springfield, which also downed the Blue and White in the 2004 NEWMAC Tournament first round, improved to 23-9.

The teams stood tied at 11 in game one, but the Pride used a 19-9 run to pull away and take the 1-0 lead in the match. In the second game, each team had 13 points before Springfield went on a 6-0 run. Sophomore Lauren Kraus (Westboro, MA/Westboro) later landed a kill to bring Wheaton within 26-22, but the Pride scored four of the final seven points. The Lyons rallied from an early six-point hole in game three to knot the score at 16, but Springfield held a 26-21 edge late. Wheaton closed the gap to 26-25, but the Pride tallied four of the final five points to clinch the match victory.

Freshman Natasha von Sonn (Burbank, CA/Burbank) had a team-high eight kills for the Lyons, Kraus added six, and first-year Rae Bradley (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) recorded five. Freshman setter Becca Rose (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) notched 23 assists and 13 digs, von Sonn registered 11 digs, and freshman Sam Andreacchi (Burlingame, CA/Pinewood School) provided 10. Freshman libero Kristen Hunt (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) had 19 digs.

Junior Aylene Ilkson (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin Senior) led Springfield with 15 kills and 17 digs, while freshman Bethany Stosz (Amherst, MA/Amherst Regional) added 14 kills. First-year Kelsea Hellyar (Fairhaven, MA/New Bedford) tallied 41 assists and 15 digs, while sophomore Heidi Yohe (Deer Park, WA/Mount Spokane) recorded nine kills and 18 digs.

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