CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (October 14, 2025) – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ranked No. 15 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)/TARAFLEX NCAA Division III poll, battled past Emerson College for a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-17) victory in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's volleyball action at Rockwell Cage tonight.
Junior Eileen Sadati and first-year Ella Zhou led the way for MIT for an attack engineered by 44 assists from junior Kayleigh May. Zhou notched a double-double with 14 kills (.294 hitting percentage), ten digs and two service aces, while Sadati tallied a match-high 17 kills with a .400 hitting percentage. May also contributed two aces and a block assist in the Engineers seventh-straight win.
Sophomore Chloe Hokenson paced Emerson with eight kills. 13 assists, five digs, two block assists and a service ace, while junior Rachel Dickerson totaled eight kills, with just one attack error, two aces and three block assists. Junior Lauren Yoo recorded a match-high 17 digs for the Lions with three aces, while sophomore Sophia Schiappa dished out a team-high 16 assists with four digs. Junior Hannah Miller chipped in with a match-high six blocks – one solo.
Emerson hung in against the nationally ranked Engineers in a match that featured 17 ties and six lead changes throughout. MIT emerged from a first set that included seven ties and two lead changes with a 10-5 run to break a 15-15 deadlock, including a pair of kills from Zhou and Sadati apiece. Dickerson shined for the Lions in the opening frame with five kills and a .455 hitting percentage with two aces.
Emerson erased deficits of 12-7 and 14-10 to draw even (16-16) with an ace from sophomore Sami Kim in the second set. The Lions rallied from another five-point deficit (21-16) with a 6-1 run to pull level once again (22-22) following a Hockenson kill, in a stretch that included three-straight blocks by the Lions – with Dickerson and Miller each tallying a pair of block assists. The Engineers closed out the set with kills from Sadati and senior Ali Gibbs.
MIT withstood another Emerson rally in the third set to close out the win. The Lions pulled back within two (18-16) after trailing by five (14-9) with a Hokenson ace. The Engineers held from there, closing out the set with a 7-1 run, capped by back-to-back Zhou kills to seal the win.
Emerson (11-9, 3-3 NEWMAC) returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Worcester Polytechnic Institute for a NEWMAC matchup on Boylston Street at Brown and Plofker Gymnasium at 11 a.m. MIT (15-3, 6-0 NEWMAC) hosts Springfield College for a NEWMAC matchup on Saturday at noon.
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