THE BASICS 

Score: MIT 3, Emerson 2

Records: Emerson Lions (5-1, NEWMAC 0-1); MIT Engineers (7-1, NEWMAC 1-0) 

Location: Boston, Mass. (Brown & Plofker Gym)

Date: September 13, 2022

The Lead: Sophomore Parker Cummings paced the Lions with 22 kills and Senior Caroline Bond added a game high 49 assists but the Lions came up short in a five set battle with NEWMAC opponent MIT on Tuesday evening.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON

Parker Cummings: 22 kills, 11 digs, 1 block

Amelia Combs: 17 kills and 21 digs

Caroline Davis: 26 digs

Caroline Bond: 49 assists and 16 digs

Isabella Cubba: 3 blocks

MIT

Lilly Edwards: 19 kills

Ottavia Personeni: 24 digs

Sofie Kupiec: 18 digs

HOW IT HAPPENED 

SET ONE

• The first set was a tightly contested, back and forth battle with neither side seeing a lead larger than two points.
• MIT led the set in kills 12-11 while Emerson committed less errors, tallying 6 errors to the Engineers' 7.
• Late in the set, a service ace from Junior Caroline Davis gave the Lions a 23-21 lead. MIT answered immediately with two points of their own to tie the match at 23-23.
• MIT would gain some late-set momentum and rattle off three points in a row to secure a 28-26 set victory.

SET TWO

• The second set was much like the first where neither side was able to gain much of a lead.
• With the score 13-12 in favor of MIT, a kill from Sophomore Parker Cummings sparked a 6-point run for the Lions. Kills from Cummings and Sophomore Isabella Chu, along with a block from Cummings and Senior Jillian Kay gave Emerson a 18-13 lead.  
• MIT would close the gap to two-points but the Lions were able to hold off the comeback and even the match at 1-1 after two sets.

SET THREE 

• Unlike the first two sets, the third set did see some momentum swings for both sides. After a kill by Sophomore Amelia Combs tied the set at 8-8, MIT rattled off 7 straight points to push their lead to 15-8.
• The Lions did not give in as they answered with 4 consecutive points of their own; including kills from Cummings and Kay.
• MIT scored the next point before the Lions rattled off another three consecutive points including two kills from Kay and Cummings adding another. The set was tied at 15-15.
• A three-point run for MIT gave them an 18-15 lead before Emerson responded with a three-point run of their own.
• The remainder of the set saw a back-and-forth battle, with two errors by Emerson that allowed MIT to take the 2-1 match lead.

SET FOUR 

• The Lions came out in the fourth set on fire, scoring the first 7 points.
• MIT would battle back and cut the Lions' lead to 9-5, but the four-point deficit would be the closest MIT would get to Emerson in the set.
• Back-to-back aces from Senior Caroline Bond extended the Emerson lead to 15-8 and the Lions never looked back; forcing a deciding fifth set.

SET FIVE 

• Similar to the previous four sets, the deciding set was a tightly contested battle. Emerson scored the first two points on kills by Cummings and Junior Isabella Chubba. MIT responded with two points of their own, tying set five at 2-2.
• A four-point run from the Engineers gave them an 8-5 lead, before Emerson answered with scoring 5 of the next 7 points; again, tying the set at 10-10.
• The teams traded points late in the set. With the score knotted at 13-13, a kill from MIT's Consecrata Rozario, followed by an attack error by the Lions secured the 15-13 set victory and 3-2 match victory for the Engineers. 

UP NEXT 

The Lions remain on their home floor as they welcome in Johnson and Whales on Thursday, September 15^th at 6pm.

FOLLOW THE LIONS 

• Want all things Emerson Women's Volleyball? Follow the team on Instagram at @emersonvolleyball, as well as Twitter at @EmersonVBALL. Be sure to also follow Emerson Lions Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.