WENHAM, Mass.—Gordon Women's Volleyball celebrated its 2016 home opener with a thrilling five-set victory over visiting Wheaton on Tuesday night at the Bennett Athletic Center. The Fighting Scots rallied from one set down, taking the fourth and fifth games to pull out a 25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-13 triumph.

The Fighting Scots defeated the Lyons in five sets for the second consecutive season after outlasting them in a tri-match at WPI last fall. Gordon improves to 4-6 on the season and ends Wheaton's four-match winning streak to send them to 6-4 overall in 2016.

The first set started out in Wheaton's favor as the Lyons put an 8-0 run together to take a 9-3 lead from the outset. However, Gordon clawed its way back to take a 12-10 advantage, beginning what would amount to a see saw battle for the remainder of the night.

Gordon built up as large as a four-point lead later in the set, but Wheaton battled to within a point at 24-23 before a Mackenzie Hinds (Higganum, Conn.) kill sent the Scots to a big first-set win.

The slinky match continued well into the second set with both teams going on small runs to take leads before the other rallied back to tie. After a kill from Jenna Labbadia (Berlin, Conn.) made it 21-21, Wheaton used two kills by Nikita Selivan (Lexington, Mass.) to start a 4-1 run to end the set.

Wheaton sophomore Claire Cansler (Newhall, Calif.) was tough to stop in the third set, as the outside hitter tallied up five kills to no errors in the frame. Even with Wheaton hitting a match-best .167 in the set, Gordon was able to put scrappy points together to give the Lyons a run. Gordon never allowed themselves to fall behind by more than a few points and ultimately battled all the way back to take a 23-22 lead.

However, a pair of attacking miscues down the stretch allowed the Lyons to steal the third set 25-23.

The back-and-forth remained steady in the fourth set, but it was Wheaton who looked to be in the catbird seat as it approached the end. Trailing 19-18, Gordon took a timeout to regroup and looked like a fresh team coming out of the break. The Fighting Scots only allowed the Lyons two more points the rest of the set, going on a 7-2 run to force a winner-take-all fifth.

Wheaton won the initial sprint to seven points in the final set, but Gordon was undeterred. With Jesse Nason (Andover, Mass.) serving Gordon rallied off four straight points to take its first lead of the set.

The two teams traded points until the score hit 11 aside when another small Gordon run finally put the Scots in control. An ace for Kristen Cooprider (Hopkinton, Mass.) and a big stop by Labbadia on breakdown put Gordon up by three and only needing a point for victory.

Wheaton won two consecutive points to make it 14-13, but a final serve just nicked the top of the net and backwards to send the home team to a win.

For the Foes:

• ·        Cansler was Wheaton's best player on the night with 19 kills to only three errors for a .432 hitting percentage.
• ·        Libero Stephanie Martin (Centerville, Mass.) was sharp on the back line with 45 digs.
• ·        Freshman setter Becca Houghton (Emmaus, Pa.) had 31 assists on the scoresheet.
• ·        Wheaton had a slightly better hitting percentage than the home team at .105 for the night.

For the Scots:

• ·        Gordon's stats were well spread on both offense and defense. Maggie Risma (Hudson, Ohio) and Carleigh Petersen (North Hills, Calif) contributed 32 and 25 digs respectively.
• ·        Hinds was the kills leader for the Scots with 16 compared to only eight mishits. Petersen also had a double-digit performance with 13 kills and a pair of block assists.
• ·        The Fighting Scots put up 12 service aces on the night.

 
Oh, Really?

• ·        Gordon has now won four straight home openers dating back to the 2013 season.

What's Next?

Gordon hosts St. Joseph (Conn.) on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Bennett Center.