MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The No. 21 nationally-ranked Wesleyan volleyball team opened its season by knocking off the previously unbeaten Coast Guard Bears, 3-0, at home in a non-conference match on Tuesday night. Wesleyan (1-0) opens with a win for the third season running while the Bears saw their five-game winning streak to open 2022 come to an end.
As a team, Wesleyan hit .277 (33 kills, 10 errors in 83 attempts) compared to just .078 (30 kills, 22 errors in 103 attempts) for the Bears. The Cardinals also amassed nine service aces compared to just one for Coast Guard, helping pave the way to victory.
In her first collegiate match, Sophie Lindus '26 impressed in all areas as she tallied nine kills on 22 attempts (.273 hitting percentage) with nine digs, just missing out on a double-double.
Kathryn Morton '24 impressed in what was her first career start, finishing with career-highs in kills (six), blocks (seven) and service aces (three) while committing no attack errors in nine total attempts for a .667 attack percentage.
Another middle shining in her first chance at extended playing time was
Bianca Gonya '25 who recorded five kills with no errors, hitting .357 for the match.
Bella Ahearn '23 went for six kills while
Mariko Tanaka '24 added four to go along with three blocks and two digs. The reigning NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year
Jenna Otaola '22 started the season with 10 digs in two sets of action.
There was little Wesleyan could do wrong in the early going as Morton and
Grace Dennis '23 combined on blocks in two of the first four points while Lindus finished off a feed from Dennis to make it 9-1 Cardinals in the opening set. Coast Guard bounced back with a 5-0 run but would only get to within three of the lead for the remainder of the opening set as kills from Gonya and Ahearn capped a 25-14 triumph.
Neither side led by more than two points as the lead changed hands several times up until the midway point when a 6-1 Cardinal run stretched Wesleyan's lead to 18-13. Lindus was again involved with kills on consecutive points before Tanaka put one away to give the Cardinals a five-point lead. Another extended 5-1 in the late stage of the set, capped by a kill then ace from Morton, gave Wesleyan a 25-17 second set win.
Coast Guard opened the first set with three consecutive points but from that point forward, the third set was all-Wesleyan as the Cardinals went on a 9-0 run behind the serve of
Kiana Yuhl '5 who fired home three aces in the scoring run. Another 8-1 Wesleyan run made it 17-5 Cardinals before the match was ultimately decided on a 25-12 third set victory.
Claire Portigue led all players with 10 kills for the Bears. Shannon Shaw added seven kills, seven digs and two blocks while Noelle Tursky posted four kills, 14 assists and four digs for Coast Guard.
Up next for the Cardinals is a busy weekend at home as Wesleyan hosts No. 22 Southwestern (Texas), Aurora and Roger Williams for a four-team tournament. Two total matches are slated for Friday while four will be played on Saturday. Wesleyan opens the home tournament on Friday night against Southwestern at 7:30 PM.
