THE BASICS:
 
- Score: No. 19 MIT 3, Williams College 0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-16)
 
- Records: No. 19 MIT (18-5), Williams (9-7)
 
- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Rockwell Cage)
 
- The Lead: The No. 19 MIT women's volleyball team kicked off the New England Challenge by defeating Williams College, 25-20, 25-12, 25-16, on Friday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Set 1: Knotted at six, a kill by junior Consecrata Rozario (Cary, N.C.) helped MIT slowly build a 14-10 lead. Williams stayed close and eventually tied the set at 20 courtesy of a kill by Morgan Persky. The Engineers capitalized on a trio of miscues by the Ephs in addition to kills from senior Alyssa Unell (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and sophomore Lauren Keller (Albuquerque, N.M.) to secure a 25-20 win.
 
- Set 2: Strong serving by first-year Daphne Gavros (Tiburon, Calif.) powered MIT to a 9-0 advantage. Williams countered with a 5-1 spurt as Marit Hoyem recorded a block, collaborated with Celia Adams on back-to-back kills, and then teamed up with Persky for a block. This was as close as it would get as the Engineers pulled away for a 25-12 victory.
 
- Set 3: Trailing 6-4, a hitting error by the Ephs sparked a 9-1 run that put MIT ahead for good. Williams battled back, closing the gap to two on two occasions, the last at 18-16 on a kill by Helen Qian. The Engineers replied with a kill from Keller which resulted in a 7-0 match-ending run.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Keller recorded 15 kills, including four during MIT's late third-set run, while hitting .538. Senior Lilly Edwards (Kansas City, Mo.) and sophomore Ella Gragg (Morganton, N.C.) both contributed seven kills as junior Emily Cheng (Sunnyvale, Calif.) tallied 32 assists and seven digs.
 
- Sophomore Ottavia Personeni (Bethesda, Md.) led all players with 20 digs while Gavros posted seven digs and three aces. Unell chipped in two blocks and two aces for the Engineers.
 
- Adams totaled six kills, three aces, and three blocks as Hoyem notched five kills and four blocks. Lauren Kauppila and Gracie Guidotti dished out 12 and seven assists, respectively.
 
- Persky and Qian both registered four blocks while Christina Conforti paced Williams with six digs.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT and Williams return to action on Saturday, Oct. 22 with two more matches to close out the New England Challenge. The Engineers will face Middlebury at 11:00 a.m. followed by No. 25 Tufts University at 3:30 p.m. The Ephs, meanwhile, will take on Springfield College at 11:00 a.m. and No. 23 Babson College at 3:30 p.m.
 
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