BRUNSWICK, Me. - In a tight, nail-biting five-set match, the No. 12 ranked Wesleyan volleyball team fell to Bowdoin in a 3-2 upset victory for the Polar Bears. The Cardinals owned a 2-1 lead after winning the third set 27-25, but defeats in the fourth and fifth sets secured a big win for Bowdoin on Saturday afternoon. The reigning NESCAC Champion Bowdoin improves to 10-7 overall (6-3 NESCAC) while the Cardinals drop to 16-2 (7-1 NESCAC).
As a team, Wesleyan hit .183 totaling 56 kills and 13 blocks. Sophia Lindus '26 led with 18 kills and three blocks, hitting .203, followed by Bella Ahearn '23 with 13 kills and two blocks, hitting .323. Kathryn Morton '24 had seven kills and four blocks while Michelle Jorba '25 added eight kills and two blocks of her own.
Wesleyan totaled a season-high 94 digs in the match with Jenna Otaola '22 digging 20 balls and Grace Bell '23 with a career-high 19 digs. Bianca Ortiz '24 added 11. Grace Dennis '23 had 31 assists and nine digs followed by Ali Landa '26 with 10 assists and four digs.
Bowdoin 59 kills and 11 blocks in a winning effort. Sarah Evans totaled 18 kills and followed by Jenna Robins with 16 kills and 18 digs, while Jaida Hodge-Adams totaled 11 kills and nine digs. The Polar Bears dug 95 balls in this five-set match with libero Maya White posting 27 digs and Ella Haugen digging 14. Bowdoin totaled 11 aces, six of which were from Haugen.
In the first set, Wesleyan developed an early 9-3 lead after a service run from Lindus. Kill after kill from Ahearn and Morton pushed the Cardinals to a 16-7 lead. With more kills and blocks, Wesleyan closed the first set with a dominant 25-13 victory.
The Cardinals had a dicey start in set two, trailing 12-6, but after a timeout, kills from Ahearn and Jorba brought them back in. Bell continued to cut into the Bowdoin lead with a five-point service run tying the score up 13-13 after a huge kill from Lindus. Both teams went back and forth until the Cardinals trailed by one at 19-18. Bowdoin's Maya White then went on a crucial service run, winning the second set.
Bowdoin started off strong in the 3rd set going on a 5-1 run. The Cardinals brought themselves back into the set quickly and went toe to toe with the Polar Bears until Bowdoin went on a 7-2 run. When the Polar Bears had game point at 24-21, Landa went on a five-point run to get game point for Wesleyan at 25-24, with Lindus and Morton getting back to back kills and blocks. The Cardinals then sealed the set with a 27-25 win on a block from Sayre.
In the fourth set, Bowdoin got an early lead 12-4 after a service run from Joy Liu. A block from Kate Long '24 and two kills from Zoe Swift '25 brought the Cardinals back into the match, trailing 14-10. Bowdoin, however, pushed forward with another huge run that the Cardinals could not dig themselves out of, losing the set 25-15.
In the final tie-breaker set of the match, Bowdoin started off on a 5-1 run. Wesleyan was able to erase that deficit and go toe-to-toe with the Polar Bears until the score was 13-12 in favor of Bowdoin after a kill from Jorba. The Polar Bears then took the last two points winning the set and the match at 15-12.
Up next for the Cardinals is a tournament where they play at Stevens on Friday night at 7 pm, with a doubleheader on Saturday against Kean and Stockton.
