Augustine ’17 Becomes All-Time Kills Leader as Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Bridgewater 

Jules Augustine ’17 (Skaneateles, NY) recorded eight kills to set an Emerson record, while Bella Edwards ’20 (Palisades, CA) notched 16 kills during the Lions’ last home match of the season, in which they swept Bridgewater State, 3–0, Thursday night.

Emerson rises to 17–10 overall as Bridgewater State falls to 10–18.

Prior to the match, head coach Ben Read and assistant coaches Elise Edmonson and Sara Rutan honored the team’s five seniors—Augustine, Jessica Hamilton (Los Angeles, CA), Amanda Linzmeyer (Huntington Beach, CA), Annie Hall (Okemos, MI), and Elizabeth Reid (Charlottesville, VA)—for their hard work and dedication to the women’s volleyball program over the last four seasons.

Emerson jumped out to a 5–2 lead before Bridgewater State started to creep back and stay within no more than two points before a service ace from Sam Harton ’18 (Cartersville, GA) gave the Lions some breathing room at 13–9. After Bridgewater State committed an attack error, Emerson bumped its lead up to five at 17–12. The Bears continued to battle back and tacked on three points to square the match at 22–all, but the Lions tallied the final three of four points and took the 25–23 win on Augustine’s record-setting kill.

After Bridgewater State grabbed the 4–2 lead to start off the second frame, Emerson fired back four consecutive points to take the 6–4 advantage. The Bears were never too far behind and kept within two, but found themselves in a five-point deficit at 13–8 after an ace from Kayleen Bertrand ’20 (New Boston, NH). Bridgewater State came within one of Emerson at 15–14, only to see the Lions up their lead to five again at 20–15 on a kill by Edwards. Edwards then closed out the 25–20 Lions second-set win with a kill.

Both the Lions and Bears stayed neck-and-neck throughout the beginning of the third frame, but it was the Lions who began to distance the score in their favor. After Bridgewater State came within three at 10–7, that was the closest it would come. Three consecutive swings from Edwards gave Emerson its largest lead of 11 at 19–8, but it was a kill by Lily Marella ’20 (Portland, OR) that capped off the third set as the Lions cruised to the 25–10 third-set victory.

Edwards paced Emerson with 16 kills, and Linzmeyer followed with 10. Augustine and Kelley Guerra ’19 (Randolph, NJ) each tallied eight kills apiece. Harton had a team-high three aces and 10 digs. Moira Brennan ’19 (Glenview, IL) had a match-high 45 assists. Guerra, Augustine, and Hall led the Emerson defense with two block assists each.

Sophomore Erin Clifford recorded a team-high 10 kills, and senior Charleyne Panner tallied 24 assists for Bridgewater State. Sophomore Cassidy Tyros had 14 kills, and senior Hannah Maymon recorded an ace. Sophomore Elizabeth Roberts and Maymon led the Bears’s defense with one block assist each.

Emerson’s final match of the 2016 season will be against Clark University on Saturday, October 29, at 1:00 pm.