THE BASICS 

Score: Emerson 3, Wheaton (Mass.) 0

Records: Emerson Lions (15-7, 5-4 NEWMAC) ; Wheaton (Mass.) Lyons (14-10, 2-7 NEWMAC)

Location: Norton, Mass. (Evelyn Danzing Haas A.C.) 

Date: October 26, 2021

The Lead: Paced by the freshman duo of Amelia Combs and Parker Cummings, who tallied 13 and 10 kills, respectively, the Emerson women's volleyball team notched its third straight win in a 3-0 sweep at Wheaton (Mass.) on Tuesday night in NEWMAC women's volleyball action. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON

Combs: 13 kills
Cummings: 10 kills 
Shea McGovern: 18 assists & two aces
Caroline Davis: 17 digs 
Jillian Kay: five blocks (one solo, four assists) 

WHEATON (MASS.) 

Annah Shaheen: nine kills
Hannah George: 11 assists
Adara Hamilton: three aces
Sophia Wilhelm: 10 digs
Bailey Madrzyk & Julianna Flack: two blocks 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

SET ONE

• Emerson and Wheaton exchanged the lead back-and-forth from the beginning of the first frame with neither team leading by more than three.
• Down 17-16, the Lions faced their largest deficit of three, and continued to go back and forth until the visitors snagged the lead on two consecutive Combs kills with the score at 23-22. 
• Now with the one point lead, Emerson did not turn back and notched the final two points on a pair of Lyons attack errors to edge out the hosts, 25-22. 

SET TWO

• The second set's start mirrored the opening set as the two teams saw several lead changes and ties up to the midpoint of the frame before Emerson pushed their lead to five. 
• After Wheaton leveled the score at 12-all, Emerson embarked on a 5-0 run to push their advantage up to five, its largest of the set, on an ace by senior Carolyn Vaimoso (17-12). 
• Wheaton closed the gap to three, but Emerson created space and upped their advantage up to seven after they tallied the next four of five points (24-17). 
• One point from taking the set, Wheaton rattled off three points to inch within four at 24-20, but Emerson held on and snagged the second set after a Lyons attack error, 25-20. 

SET THREE

• Unlike the first two frames, Emerson was able to gain a six point lead over Wheaton, but saw that lead slowly dwindle down to one at 14-13 after a string of three points from the Lyons (14-13). 
• Up two at 19-17 and Wheaton right on their tail, Emerson kept the Lyons in the distance and set off on a 6-1 streak to wrap the three frame on swings from Cummings and Combs to lock the 25-18 win.

UP NEXT 

• Emerson continues its stay on the road come Thursday, October 28th when the Lions travel down to Providence for an out-of-league contest at Johnson & Wales (R.I.) at 7:00 p.m.