New London, CT --- The WPI volleyball team was victorious in a tri-match with Connecticut College and Rhode Island College on Saturday afternoon coming away with a pair of non-conference wins.
WPI (9-11) started things off with a 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 26-24, 12-25, 19-17) win over host Connecticut College (10-10) as WPI Head Coach
Cailyn Straubel, in her second year at the helm of the Engineers, was able to defeat her alma mater in her first ever match against the Camels. The team finished its day with a quick 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-20) sweep of Rhode Island College (8-14). The hosts blanked RIC 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-16) in Saturday's finale.
Catherine Reynolds (Concord, NH) posted yet another triple-double in the win over Conn, her sixth of the season.
MATCH 1: WPI 3, Connecticut College 2
The Engineers were paced by Reynolds who posted her second-straight triple double with 13 kills, 16 assists and 13 digs, while also adding five blocks and an ace in the five-set match. The triple-double was her sixth of the season and seventh of her career.
Lily Eldridge (Danvers, MA) added a double-double with 25 helpers and 11 kills while also adding a block as
Emily Hudson (Melrose, MA) added 12 kills and
Zeala VanDamme (San Diego, CA) added five more blocks in the game.
Conn got out to a fast 8-2 lead in the first set until WPI was able to chip away and cut it to a 11-8 game thanks to a pair of kills from Hudson and ultimately evened the score at 12-all behind the serve of
Alana Harris (Lowell, MA) and kills from Eldridge, Hudson and
Olivia Deckers (Marlboro, MA). But a couple of mini-bursts by the Camels helped them gain enough of a lead to hang on for the 25-18 victory.
In set No. 2, WPI evened the score with a tight 26-24 victory thanks to a Harris service ace to seal the win. WPI battled back from a 12-4 deficit early in the set, evening the set at 14-all behind an 8-1 run. WPI took advantage of a few Conn miscues and then reeled off four-straight kills to start fresh. The two-team traded mini-runs, but at 24-all an Eldridge kill put the ball in the hands of Harris who propelled WPI to the win.
Set No. 3 also went in favor of the Engineers, again with a 26-24 win. Conn, yet again, controlled the lead for the majority of the game but a late 6-0 run by WPI that featured a pair of kills from Reynolds and Deckers and a handful of Camel unforced errors put the Engineers right back in the game and ultimately with a 22-20 lead. Again, at 24-all, a Hudson kill got WPI the ball back and a setting error from Conn gave WPI the 2-1 game lead.
Conn ran away with game No. 4 with a 25-12 victory setting up the fifth and final set of action that saw another two-point win. The two teams battled back and forth for the entirety of the set and WPI gained an 11-8 advantage but Conn was able to even things up at 14-all thanks to a service ace from
Emma Wheeler (Meredith, NH). With Conn up 16-15 and serving for the win,
Joanna Hu (Shrewsbury, MA) came through big for the Engineers with a kill, and helped WPI to earn the advantage 17-16. VanDamme gave WPI an 18-17 advantage, and an attack error from Conn sealed the victory for the Engineers.
MATCH 2: WPI 3, Rhode Island College 0
The Engineers came away with the game-two sweep as Deckers finished with a double-digit kill effort with 10 of the team's 42 kills in the outing.
Jia Yazon (South Windsor, CT) added 16 digs as well as a career-high six aces while
Emilia Krum (Saratoga Springs, NY) put up a career-high 22 assists in the outing.
The two teams battled back and forth for half of the first set until a 5-0 run set WPI apart from RIC as Yazon picked up three of her six aces of the day during the spurt that gave the Engineers a 16-10 advantage and the ultimate win. WPI took a 20-13 lead off of a Reynolds, VanDamme block and
Joanna Hu added another kill en route to a 22-13 advantage. After getting the ball back after an RIC attacking error, Hudson closed out the first set with a slam for the 25-16 win.
Set No. 2 saw a fast 7-3 lead from the Engineers, though RIC was able to battle back and get within two. A late 6-0 run that saw a trio of kills from Deckers boosted WPI to another 20-13 advantage and though the Anchormen were able to get closer this game, the Engineers closed things out on a 4-0 run as Yazon netted another ace en route to the win.
Rhode Island College earned its first lead of the day in the third set, using a service ace from
Brookelyn Feola (Riverside, RI) to take a 6-5 lead and then ultimately a 5-0 run off the serve of
Nicole Normandin (Blackstone, MA) to gain an 11-6 lead. But WPI responded right away with an 8-1 run of its own as Harris stepped up once again on the service stripe, while the Engineers recorded a trio of kills to regain a 14-12 lead. RIC was able to tie things up at 14-all but could not gain another lead as kills by Hudson and Reynolds sealed the victory.
All three teams will return to the court on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 7 pm. WPI returns to action with a NEWMAC contest at Springfielde while Connecticut College is at Mitchell and Rhode Island College will face Anna Maria at home.
