NORTON, Mass. - The Emerson women's volleyball team saw their three match streak come to a halt as the Wheaton (Mass.) Lyons handed them a 3-0 loss on Tuesday night in NEWMAC action at Emerson Gymnasium. The Lyons took the first set, 25-20, followed by 25-22 and 25-20 wins in the second and third frames.

Emerson falls to 13-6 overall and 2-4 against NEWMAC opponents, while Wheaton improves to 9-11 and 2-4 in NEWMAC action.

Wheaton and Emerson remained neck-and-neck with one another to begin the opening frame and were never separated by more than three points. After the Lyons committed an attack error that allowed the Lions to come within two at 15-13, the Lyons notched three more points and pulled ahead by five at 18-13. Even after Wheaton grabbed the lead, Emerson was never too far behind. Despite Emerson keeping close, sophomore Cathryn MacGregor and junior Stephanie Martin served up ace after ace. An ace and kill from MacGregor closed out the 25-20 first set win for the Lyons. 

After Wheaton squared the second set at 7-all on a kill from Cameron Mercer, Emerson earned back three points on a kill from freshman Bella Edwards (Palisades, Calif.) and two Lyons attack errors to take the 10-7 lead. A 5-0 run with a pair of kills from Nikita Selivan allowed Wheaton to gain the 12-10 lead, but Emerson once again battled their way back and tied the set at 17-all on a Wheaton service error and regained the 21-20 lead on a kill from sophomore Fara Cohen (Morristown, N.J.). The Lions lead was short-lived as the Lyons put together a 5-0 comeback run to lock down the 25-22 victory.

Emerson banged out a 5-0 lead over Wheaton to start off the third frame on three Lyons errors with a kill and ace from Edwards. Wheaton fought back and made their way onto the board with two kills from Allison Cox, two aces from Martin and a Lions error to square the set at 5-all. Freshman Sadie Stewart gave Wheaton its first lead of the set off an Emerson attack error to make it 9-8. The Lyons never lost the lead again and were able to stretch it to six at 19-13 before the 25-20 third set victory was secured on a kill by sophomore Claire Cansler. 

Edwards paced Emerson with 10 kills, as well as two aces and nine digs. Sophomore Moira Brennan (Glenview, Ill.) tallied 24 helpers. Cohen registered seven digs, along with a team-high 11 digs. Freshman Lily Marella (Portland, Ore.) had a team-high three blocks and senior Amanda Linzmeyer (Huntington Beach, Calif.) also had two aces. 

Cansler earned a team-high 12 kills, while Cox finished within kills and MacGregor tallied eight. Martin led the Wheaton defense with 14 digs with Selivan registering 12. Martin also had a match-high five aces. 

Emerson continues its road schedule on Thursday to take on Babson for a NEWMAC matchup at 7:00 p.m. Wheaton returns to the court on Tuesday, Oct. 11 and heads to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for a NEWMAC road tilt at 7:00 p.m.