MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – After completing the best regular season in recent memory, the No. 13 nationally-ranked Wesleyan volleyball team earned the top seed and the right to host the NESCAC Tournament for the first time in program history. The Cardinals enter the postseason with a 21-2 overall record, having gone 9-1 in NESCAC play and 10-1 at home in the regular season. Wesleyan will face off against the eighth-seeded Colby Mules at 5:00 PM on Friday in quarterfinal action.
 
ABOUT WESLEYAN:

• This is the Cardinals' 26^th appearance in the NESCAC Tournament, dating back to 1990. Since the league's formal founding in 2000, the Cardinals have advanced to the NESCAC Tournament in 17 of a possible 22 seasons including the last six straight.
• Wesleyan is looking for the program's second NESCAC title, having last won in 2017.
• The Cardinals played a particularly difficult schedule, having faced 15 regionally ranked teams (13-2 record in those contests) as well as three teams ranked in the Top 25 (2-1 record).
• Wesleyan leads the NESCAC in a pair of crucial statistical categories: blocks per set (2.60) and hitting percentage (.261). The Cardinals also rank second in the conference in assists per set (11.87), kills per set (12.88), and opponent hitting percentage (.122).
• In terms of the NCAA stat leaders, Wesleyan is among the very best in the nation as the Cardinals rank 2^nd in the NCAA Division III in blocks per set and kills per set.

CARDINALS TO WATCH:

• Sophia Lindus '26 has made an instant impact in her debut season, leading the NESCAC by a wide margin with 274 (3.86 per set), as the next-closest player to Lindus' total is Kate Carman of Hamilton with 241. Lindus also leads the conference in points (329; 4.63/set) and ranks Top 20 in hitting percentage (.277, 10^th), service aces (31 (0.44/set), 12^th), and digs (203 (2.86/set), 15^th). Looking at the NCAA leaderboard, Lindus finds herself 21^st nationally in points per set (third-highest total among first-years) and 26^th in kills per set (fourth among first-years).
• The 2019 NESCAC Rookie of the Year Bella Ahearn '23 is enjoying the best statistical season of her career, posting 194 kills (2.52/set) and a .306 attack percentage in 77 sets (playing in all 23 matches). This is the first time she has hit over .300 during a season in her career. Ahearn has 634 career kills, tops among the team entering the postseason.
• Wesleyan is littered with standouts along the back line as three Cardinals have at least 200 digs this season while a fourth is just shy of that mark. Jenna Otaola '22 is the reigning NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year and leads the team with 287 digs in 70 sets (4.10/set) while Lindus has 203 in 71 (2.86/set) and Grace Bell '23 has 200 in a team-high 77 sets (2.60/set). Bianca Ortiz '24 has 179 digs in 67 sets (2.67/set) as all four impact performers help lift Wesleyan to what is the NESCAC's second-best opponent attack percentage (.122).
• Setter Grace Dennis '23 has helped run what is a Top 5 offense in the country in terms of attack percentage. She has 586 assists in 66 sets this season, averaging a NESCAC-best 8.88 per set. Dennis has 10 matches of 30+ assists this season while she has at least 28 assists in eight of the past nine matches.
• Leading a Cardinal blocking unit that ranks Top 5 in the country in total blocks and blocks per set, Kathryn Morton '24 has 76 total blocks (19 solo, 57 assists) in 74 sets this season. Her 1.03 blocks per set average ranks third-best in the NESCAC while she also contributes offensively, with a team-leading .326 attack percentage (2^nd-highest in the NESCAC).

NESCAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY:

• The Cardinals won the NESCAC Championship – the first and only in program history – in 2017 as Wesleyan defeated Williams, Bowdoin and the host Tufts on the way to the title
• Wesleyan has won at least one match in the NESCAC Tournament the past four seasons (since 2017)
• The Cardinals have played in the NESCAC title match three times (2001, 2017, 2021) including last season as Wesleyan was defeated 3-1 at top-seeded Bowdoin
• Wesleyan owns a 7-3 overall record in the past four NESCAC Tournament