Women's Volleyball Hosts Annual Dig Pink Match

BOSTON, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology women's volleyball team (10-8) squared off against a pair of opponents as part of its annual Dig Pink match on Saturday afternoon. The Leopards were defeated by William Paterson, 3-1 (11-5), and Lasell (13-3), 3-2.

WILLIAM PATERSON 3, WENTWORTH 1

• After a William Paterson kill opened the scoring, three straight Pioneer errors gave Wentworth a 3-1 lead. The Pioneers used a 6-2 run to take a 7-5 lead on a Cecilia Miller kill, however, four straight Leopard points gave the Black & Gold a 9-7 lead. Kate McLane had a kill while Clairissa Taylor and Savannah Morford combined for a block. A 9-2 run William Paterson run gave the Pioneers the lead for good at 16-11. The Pioneers led by as many as eight (20-12) and upped their lead to nine (25-16) to close out the set.
• Two kills sandwiched around an ace gave the Pioneers a 3-0 lead to open the second set. A pair of errors brought Wentworth to within one, and, after a service error made it 4-2, the Black & Gold responded with a 7-0 run, fueled by three kills from Emma Sanders, to take a 9-4 lead. An attack error extended the Wentworth advantage to 10-4, however, William Paterson responded with a 10-3 run to take a 14-13 lead. After the Leopards tied the set on a Helen Barthe kill, three straight Pioneer kills pushed the advantage to 17-14. Wentworth used a 5-1 run to take a 19-18 lead on a Riley Schoonmaker kill and the set saw five more ties before the Pioneers prevailed, 25-23.
• Wentworth raced out to a 6-2 lead to open the third set, thanks to a pair of kills from Barthe and extended its lead to 8-3 after kills from Sanders and Barthe. William Paterson closed the gap to 9-7 after an error and a kill, however, the Black & Gold upped their lead to 11-7, on a kill from Clairissa Taylor. The Pioneers pulled with one at 11-10, forcing Wentworth to call a timeout. Three straight points out of the timeout gave Wentworth a 14-10 lead, which was extended to 16-11, forcing William Paterson to call a timeout. From there, the Leopards continued their run, taking a 20-12 lead on a Kinsey Lutz service ace. A kill from Barthe out of a timeout made it 21-12, however, four straight Pioneer points made it 21-16 and forced the Black & Gold to call a timeout of their own. A kill from Sanders and a block from Lexi Zabloudil and Schoonmaker made it 24-16 before a Barthe kill gave Wentworth a 25-17 win, cutting the advantage to 2-1.
• The start of the fourth set saw William Paterson take a 5-1 lead before a kill from Sanders ended the run. However, three straight Pioneer points pushed the lead to 8-2. Out of a timeout, Sanders had a kill and an ace to bring the score to 8-4. Five straight Pioneer points brought the score to 13-4 but the Leopards ended the run with a pair of points of their own, the second coming on a Barthe service ace. William Paterson upped its lead to 17-6 and again took an 11-point lead at 20-9 before closing out the set, 25-12.
• Sanders (13), McLane (11), and Barthe (10) each recorded double-digit kill totals. Sanders also had 15 digs and a pair of aces. Zabloudil dished out 28 assists and had 13 digs, while Taylor had five blocks.

LASELL 3, WENTWORTH 2

• Wentworth opened the match with a 4-2 lead after a Taylor kill, however, Lasell responded with three straight points, with two kills and a block assist coming from Norgan Bogli. A kill from Taylor started a 12-1 run which gave the hosts a 16-6 lead after a kill from Barthe. With the Leopards ahead, 20-9, Lasell used a 7-4 spurt to pull within eight at 24-16, however, Barthe threw down a kill to give the Black & Gold a 25-16 win. Both teams hit well in the first frame with Wentworth hitting at a .387 clip and Lasell at a .360 clip.
• Lasell jumped out to a 5-1 lead to open the second set before Wentworth scored three straight points – two of which came on combined blocks from Taylor and Sanders – to pull within a point at 5-4. After the teams traded two-point swings and then went point-for-point, a 5-0 Leopard spurt gave the hosts a 13-10 lead after an attack error. Out of a timeout, the Lasers went on a 6-2 run and took a 16-15 lead. The Black & Gold regained the lead at 17-16 and, again, after a Kayla DeCastro service ace at 19-18. Three straight Lasell points gave the Lasers a 21-19 lead. Out of a Wentworth timeout, Lasell scored the next three points to go ahead, 24-19 and evened the match at a set apiece with a 25-19 win.
• Lasell got off to a fast start in the third set, rolling out to a 14-1 lead. During one portion of the opening stretch, the Lasers recorded five service aces. Two kills from DeCastro ended the Lasers' opening scoring run and made it 15-3. Trailing 19-3, Wentworth scored two of the next three points, pulling to 20-5 and again at 21-6 after Schoonmaker and Sanders teamed up for a block. The Lasers took a 2-1 advantage with a 25-8 win.
• With the score tied at 3-all in the fourth set, Wentworth scored five straight points, taking an 8-3 lead on a block from Taylor and Sanders, which forced Lasell to use a timeout. The Leopards increased their lead to 10-4 before a pair of errors brought Lasell to within four at 10-6. Back-to-back points by the Leopards increased the lead to 12-6. With the score at 13-8, Schoonmaker and Gianna Cefalu combined for back-to-back blocks, increasing the lead to 15-8. Using a 3-1 spurt, the Black & Gold upped its lead from 16-10 to 19-11 as McLane recorded a pair or kills. However, Lasell scored the next four points, including two by way of the ace, and pulled back within four at 19-15. Out of a timeout, Lasell scored two more points on aces, however, Sanders came up with a kill to make it 20-17. Barthe extended the lead with a kill, but three straight Lasell points brought the Lasers within one at 21-20. A Sanders kill and an attack error made it 23-20 and back-to-back aces from DeCastro tied the match at 2-all as Wentworth prevailed, 25-20.
• The deciding set saw Wentworth jump out to a 4-1 lead, thanks in part to a service ace from Amanda Zweifler and two kills from McLane. Cefalu served an ace to make it 6-1 but seven straight Laser points gave the visitors an 8-6 lead at the change. An attack error pulled the Black & Gold to within one at 8-7, however, two straight Laser points made it 10-7. The Leopards pulled back within a pair on a Sanders kill, however, three straight Lasell points pushed the lead to 13-8 and the Lasers prevailed, 15-9.
• McLane finished with 13 kills in the match, while Barthe and Sanders each had eight. Sanders and Taylor had four block assists each. DeCastro served five aces, Zweifler had 15 digs, and 29 assists to go along with four kills, three aces, nine digs, and two blocks.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth returns to Conference of New England action on Wednesday night with a home match against Roger Williams.

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