CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Junior Ali Gibbs (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) totaled 14 kills and senior Ottavia Personeni (Bethesda, Md.) tallied 25 digs to lead top-seeded and No. 4 nationally-ranked MIT women's volleyball to a 3-1 (25-19, 27-25, 20-25, 25-12) victory over No. 8 seed Emerson College in the quarterfinals of the NEWMAC Women's Volleyball Championship on Tuesday evening at Rockwell Cage.
THE BASICS:
- Score: MIT 3, Emerson 1 (25-19, 27-25, 20-25, 25-12)
- Records: MIT (30-0 Overall, 11-0 NEWMAC), Emerson (14-15, 4-7 NEWMAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Set 1: MIT rallied from an early deficit to take the opening set. With MIT leading 4-2, Emerson tallied five straight points to take a 7-4 advantage following an MIT miscue. It didn't take long for MIT to rebound, as Gibbs capped a 5-1 run with a kill that gave the hosts a 9-8 lead. The teams exchanged points through the teens, with Emerson earning a 16-15 lead following a kill from senior Brooke Maynez (Las Cruces, N.M.). However, a string of three straight points would put MIT back ahead, 18-16. The Engineers went on to score seven of the next 10 points to close out the set.
- Set 2: A furious Emerson comeback pushed the second set past the 25-point mark before MIT was able to secure the win. With the Engineers leading 23-16, Emerson rallied to score eight straight points with graduate student Caroline Davis (Orlando, Fla.) at the service line, tying the score at 23-all. Senior Amelia Combs (Eugene, Ore.) put down three kills as part of the run before Gibbs snapped the streak with a kill that put MIT back ahead, 24-23. Kills from Combs on either side of an Emerson service error made the score 25-25 before back-to-back kills from graduate student Consecrata Rozario (Cary, N.C.) and senior Ella Gragg (Morganton, N.C.) tipped the set in MIT's favor, 27-25.
- Set 3: MIT wasn't as fortunate in the third set as Emerson picked up the victory to extend the match to a fourth set. MIT had an early advantage, leading 2-0, 4-2 and 6-4, before the Lions jumped out to a 12-8 lead. Emerson never trailed in the third set after taking the lead at 12-8, as Combs put down five kills through the second half of the set, including the final point, to give the visitors a 25-20 victory.
- Set 4: The Engineers rallied in the fourth set, as a string of 14 consecutive points put the set and the match out of reach for Emerson. With Emerson leading 8-6, a kill from Rozario gave the serve back to MIT with the Engineers trailing, 8-7. With Personeni serving, MIT ran off 13 points in-a-row, including six kills from Gibbs, to take a 20-8 lead. Emerson would only score four more points in the match after falling behind 20-8 as MIT closed out the set, 25-12, and the match, 3-1.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Rozario finished one kill shy of Gibbs with 13 for MIT. First year Julia Tolstova (Redlands, Calif.) added 10 kills for MIT. Both Gibbs and Rozario finished with attack percentages over .500, as Gibbs had a match-leading mark of .583.
- Sophomore Kayleigh May (Camarillo, Calif.) dished out 43 assists for MIT, she now has 961 on the season.
- Gragg finished the contest with seven kills, pushing her career total to 997, just three shy of the 1,000 kill mark.
- Combs had a double-double, totaling a match-high 23 kills and 15 digs to lead Emerson.
UP NEXT:
-
MIT will host the semifinals and championship of the 2024 NEWMAC Women's Volleyball Championship this weekend at Rockwell Cage. The Engineers will face No. 5 seed Babson in the first of two semifinals on Saturday, November 16 at 1:00 PM. No. 3 Smith and No. 2 Springfield will meet in the second semifinal at 3:30 PM. The winners will play for the NEWMAC title on Sunday, November 17 at 1:00 PM.
STAY CONNECTED:
