BOSTON, Mass. (November 7, 2026) – Emerson College closed out the regular season and clinched homecourt for next week's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament by celebrating Senior Day with a pair of wins at Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gymnasium today.
Emerson (22-4, 9-2 NEWMAC) opened with a 3-2 (25-20, 25-19, 21-25, 16-25, 15-10) triumph over the United States Coast Guard Academy in the NEWMAC regular season finale for both and locked up homecourt for Tuesday's NEWMAC Quarterfinal Round once the dust settled on the entire final round of NEWMAC women's volleyball matches. The Lions will be seeded a program-best No. 3 for next week's NEWMAC Tournament and will host No. 6 Coast Guard (15-11, 5-6 NEWMAC) for a quick rematch in Tuesday's quarterfinal round on Boylston Street at 6 p.m. The Lions followed up the Coast Guard win with a 3-1 (25-21, 15-25, 25-23, 25-16) non-conference victory over Brandeis University in their second match. Brandeis swept Coast Guard 3-0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-19) in today's middle match.
Prior to today's second match, Emerson took a moment to honor its three seniors and families as they got set to compete in their final regular season home match. This year's Lions seniors are Rachel Dickerson, Kori Meissner and Lauren Yoo. The trio have helped the Lions to four-straight postseason appearances and a regional and national rank in their senior seasons.
Hokenson posted a triple double and double double as the Lions swept a Senior Day tri-match this afternoon (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard/RJBSports.com) |
Emerson 3, Coast Guard 2 (25-20, 25-19, 21-25, 16-25, 15-10)
Emerson wrapped up home court for the quarterfinals of the NEWMAC Tournament by grinding out a five-set thriller over Coast Guard in today's opening match. Junior Chloe Hokenson posted her fourth triple-double of the season (eighth career) to lead Emerson to the win, totaling 16 kills, 18 assists and 15 digs, while classmate Sophia Schiappa contributed her second double-double of the season (fourth career) with 23 assists, 17 digs and two service aces. The duo engineered a Lions attack that produced three with double-digit kills, led by sophomore Lizi Horning with 15 kills and only two errors for a .371 hitting percentage.
Rachel Dickerson rounded out Emerson's double-figure attack with 11 kills, eight digs and three blocks, with Lauren Yoo chipping in with 26 digs and eight assists.
Senior Abigail Schweitzer led the Coast Guard attack with 15 kills and a .314 hitting percentage, while classmate Sam Ventimiglia added 12 kills. Sophomore Corey Lemmer rounded out the Bears with double-digit kills with 11 and six digs.
Sophomore Ava Ahokovi and freshman Allie Jenkins each recorded a double-double for Coast Guard with Ahokovi totaling 20 assists and ten digs and Jenkins chipped in 16 assists and ten digs. Senior Courtney Shire contributed a match-high 31 digs and eight assists.
Emerson won the first two sets that saw a combined 18 ties and 13 lead changes, taking advantage of eight Coast Guard hitting errors, while delivering five aces. Kori Meissner closed the set with two of those aces during a 13-6 run that sealed the set.
Emerson recorded only five attack errors in winning the second set to seemingly take control of the match. Coast Guard rallied to win the next two and force a deciding fifth set. The Bears recorded just four hitting errors in the third set and only three in the fourth to go with three blocks, using an 11-2 run to take control in the frame.
Emerson closed the match out without trailing in the fifth set, starting and finishing the frame with Schiappa serving. She produced match point with an ace before Horning finished it off with her fourth kill of the stanza.
Horning enjoyed two efficient hitting matches for the Lions. (PHOTO BY Jacob Goldberg, '28) |
Emerson 3, Brandeis 1 (25-21, 15-25, 25-23, 25-16)
Emerson closed out the day with its ninth-straight win behind an efficient attack led by Chloe Hokenson's 11th double-double of the year (29th career), delivering a season-high 18 kills with just one attack error on 26 attempts for a .654 hitting percentage, 17 assists and two service aces. Lizi Horning was similarly efficient with ten kills and one error on 21 attempts to hit .429.
Sophia Schiappa dished out a season-best 25 assists with six digs, while Lauren Yoo contributed 13 digs, five assists and two aces. Sophomore Shirley Yu tallied 12 kills (.296), two digs and two blocks, while Rachel Dickerson registered her seventh double-double (14th career) with 11 kills and 12 digs.
Juniors Madison Haft-Abromovitch and Kennedy Lilly each totaled a team-best 12 kills to lead the Brandeis attack, with Haft-Abromovitch committing just two errors for a .345 hitting percentage and five digs. Classmate Alexa Ho dished out 28 assists with four kills, three aces and nine digs for the Judges, while first year Kennedy Hilson chipped in 16 digs, seven kills, three aces and a solo block.
Emerson had just four combined attack errors over the first two sets, including two with 18 kills in the opening frame in hitting .372 to grab an early edge. Hokenson posted five kills without an error on six attacks (.833) with six assists.
After Brandeis evened the match by winning the second set, Emerson resumed control by using an 11-3 run, largely on the serve of Dickerson and Yoo, that opened a 20-9 lead in the third set. Hokenson posted seven kills on eight total hits without an error (.875), while Horning added four on six errorless attacks (.667) and Schiappa doled out eight assists.
Emerson closed out the match by hitting .333 with 15 kills in the fourth set. Dickerson sealed the win with an ace after Yu and Horning produced kills.
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