CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Facing yet another nationally-ranked opponent, the No. 14 Wesleyan volleyball team put together one of their most-impressive performances of the season as the Cardinals swept No. 17 MIT on the road with a 25-23, 25-18, 30-28 triumph. The Cardinals continue their torrid start to the season, currently sitting at 10-1, while the Engineers drop to 12-2.
On a night where Wesleyan amassed 40 kills, nearly half of the team's total came from Sophia Lindus '26 as the first-year was utterly dominant in leading the Cardinals to victory. Lindus tallied 16 kills against just one error, hitting .375 for the night while also adding two service aces and five digs. The 16 kills are the most for any Cardinal in a three-set match all season.
As a team, Wesleyan hit .232 for the match (40 kills against 12 errors in 119 attempts) compared to .203 for the Engineers. A key stat was service aces as the Cardinals dominated from the service line with 11 aces compared to six for MIT. Jenna Otaola '22 pilled up a career-high five aces while adding 15 of the Cardinals' 45 digs for the match.
Bella Ahearn '23 produced her third double-digit kill performance of the season, as the senior tallied 10 while hitting .333. Kathryn Morton '24 tallied seven kills and two blocks while Mariko Tanka '24 followed with five kills and three blocks.
Maya Lopansri '25 had her best outing of the season, leading the team with 21 assists and seven digs. Grace Dennis '23 added 12 assists. Grace Bell '23 and Bianca Ortiz '24 added six and five digs, respectively.
MIT produced 47 kills for the match, seven more than Wesleyan, but the Cardinals forced the Engineers into 21 errors to help account for the defeat. Lilly Edwards led MIT with 13 kills while Lauren Keller followed with seven. As a team, MIT dug 53 balls with Ottavia Personeni totaling 18.
Early in the first set, Wesleyan took off with an early lead 20-12. The Cardinals got to set point at 24-16 and the Engineers followed with a 7-point run eventually bringing the set to just a one-point margin at 24-23. However, the Cardinals were able to close the first set with a kill from Ahearn, silencing the home crowd.
The second set was back-and-forth with each team scoring kill after kill until the Cardinals went on a decisive 7-1 late run to finish the set, 25-18, thanks to an Ortiz service run.
The third set was neck-and-neck going all the way to a nail-biting 30-28. There were six total game points, four of which were MIT's. Kills from Lindus and a block from Ahearn and Tanaka sealed the set and the match for the Cardinals.
Now 10-1, the Cardinals are driving up to Maine to play Colby on Friday night at 7 pm for their third NESCAC match. They'll stay in Maine on Saturday to play another conference match against Bates.
