LEWISTON, Me. - Playing a third match away from home in as many days, the No. 14 ranked Wesleyan volleyball team made easy work of Bates in a 3-0 sweep (25-16, 25-14, 25-8) to remain undefeated in league play this season. The Cardinals are now 12-1 overall and 4-0 in conference, and remain in sole possession of first place in the NESCAC. The Bobcats drop to 4-7 (0-5 NESCAC) this season.
Wesleyan amassed a total of 34 kills with 10 errors for a .320 team hitting percentage. The Cardinals scored a season-high of 13 service aces. Grace Bell '23 and Jenna Otaola '22 each finished with three while Sophia Lindus '26 registered a career-high four aces during the match.
Mariko Tanaka '24 led the charge with 12 kills and just one error on 15 attempts, hitting .733. Lila Sayre '25 followed with a career-high performance of seven kills and no errors as she hit .636. Michelle Jorba '25 and Lindus each totaled four kills with Bella Ahearn '23 scoring three kills on six attempts for a hitting percentage of .500.
Defense, especially at the net, was key in this match with Wesleyan finishing with 38 digs and nine blocks. Otaola led the Cardinal defense with 13 digs followed by Lindus with eight and Bell with six. Tanaka led the team with six blocks followed by Sayre with a career-high three blocks.
Maya Lopansri '25 and Grace Dennis '23 ran the Cardinal's offense with Lopansri getting 19 assists and Dennis getting 10 assists.
As a team, Bates got 22 kills with 20 errors for a .082 clip. While their offense and serve receive struggled, especially in the second and third sets, their defense stepped up with 27 digs, eight of which from Emma Eid. Katie Kortekaas earned seven of the team's 22 kills followed by Alyssa Lowther with six.
In the first set of the match, Bates kept up with Wesleyan, trailing by just a two-point margin at 17-15, until a 5-point service run by Lindus and back-to-back kills from Sayre and Ahearn gave the Cardinals a healthy lead. After closing out the first set 25-16, Wesleyan started off strong in the second set with a 4-0 service run by Otaola. Wesleyan kept pushing forward with aggressive serving so the Bobcats could not run their offense. Tanaka scored kill after kill until the Cardinals closed the second set 25-14.
Ready to bring this win home, the Cardinals came out in the third set with even more energy. Wesleyan got off to a 15-5 lead thanks to another service run by Lindus. With all the momentum, Wesleyan's offense ran smoothly to overwhlem the Bobcats. Bell closed the match with two aces in a row to get a 25-8 victory, securing yet another NESCAC win.
Now 12-1 and undefeated in the NESCAC, the Cardinals are preparing to for a big weekend back at home, as Wesleyan hosts both Williams (Friday 8 PM) and Amherst (Saturday 2 PM) in a weekend that will decide the Little 3 Championship.
