WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior Emma Nihill (Chandler, Ariz.) finished the match with consecutive kills to break a 16-16 tie in the fifth set to power the Owls to a thrilling victory over Wheaton College in the first of two games from Smith College on Saturday afternoon.
The Owls held off a Lyons comeback to prevail: 25-18, 25-19, 15-25, 24-26, 18-16. Westfield fell in straight sets to Smith (25-12, 25-16, 25-19) in the second match of the day.
GAME 1 vs Wheaton:
In the first set, the Owls pulled away after scoring nine of the final 11 points in the set with five straight coming off the service game of Julia Dangel-Garcia (Ashland, Mass.). Emma Nihill and Hanna Nihill (Chandler, Ariz.) each recorded two kills during the spurt. Allie Hill (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) delivered an ace to bring the first frame to set point where a Lyons' attacking error gave Westfield a set one win.
Westfield never trailed in the second set, using momentum from the previous set by ripping off six of the opening seven points of the set, capped by a block from Sarah Bingham (Reno, Nev.)
Wheaton came roaring back in the next two sets, with the Lyons scoring ten-straight points in the middle of the third set to distance themselves and extend the match to a fourth set.
The lead swayed back and forth in what was a tightly contested fourth set. Late in the frame, Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) registered back-to-back kills to put Wheaton in front 24-23, generating set point. A setting error from Wheaton pulled the game back to even, but an Owls attacking error followed by a kill from Celina Henn (Atwater, Calif.) forced a decisive fifth set.
The Owls trailed in the early portions of the fifth set by as much as four points until Westfield scored four consecutive points with Bingham serving up an ace to tie the set at 10-10. With the set tied at 13, Sydney Cummins (Nicholasville, Ky.) powered home a kill, pushing Westfield to match point. The Lyons refused to go down easy as Henn picked up back-to-back kills, tipping the match to a Lyons' game point.
Bingham saved the match with her seventh block of the match to knot the set at 15, setting up Emma Nihill for the game-winning slams.
Cummins led the Owls with ten kills followed by Emma Nihill with nine. Dangel-Garcia added 19 assists, and Chloe Schuld (Sycamore, Ill.) racked up 21 digs, her fifth such game this season with 20 or more digs. Bingham compiled a season-high seven solo blocks, continuing her impactful net front play this season.
GAME 2 vs Smith:
Playing the Pioneers immediately after the Wheaton match, Hanna Nihill led the scoring efforts with six kills. Dangel-Garcia supplied seven assists while Schuld chipped in ten digs.
Ari Cross (Milwaukee, Wisc.) had a game-leading nine kills along with 13 digs for the Pioneers which collected 42 kills of 75 total points scored. Taylor Gwynne (Chapel Hill, N.C.) had 14 assists for Smith which improved secured their fifth straight win to improve their season record to 19-5.
Westfield (10-11) had a five-game winning streak snapped in the contest.
Westfield State (3-0 MASCAC) will prepare for a critical MASCAC clash against Worcester State (2-1 MASCAC) for their next game on Tuesday at 7:00 P.M. from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass.