BALTIMORE, Md. - Set to make their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the Wesleyan volleyball team opens national postseason tournament play on Thursday with a first round match against Gallaudet at 2 PM from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The Cardinals are fresh off winning the 2023 NESCAC Championship at home this past weekend, securing the program's second conference title and first since 2017.

• 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament Bracket

Wesleyan is 22-1 this season, entering the NCAA Tournament having won 11 straight matches, with the lone defeat coming at NYU, a team that advanced to NCAA Final Four in 2022, in a four-set match on October 1. The Cardinals earned the #1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament having gone a perfect 10-0 in league play during the regular season for the first time in team history. Wesleyan defeated Amherst in a sweep in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Tournament, before defeating Bowdoin in four sets in the semifinals, and sweeping Williams in the title match.
 
The Cardinals led the NESCAC in several statistical categories (on a per set basis) this season including points, hitting percentage, assists, kills, blocks, opponent blocks, and opponent service aces. As a team, Wesleyan hits at a .266 percent clip, ranking first in the NESCAC and fifth in all of NCAA Division III. Wesleyan also features the second-best blocking team in the nation, as the Cardinals' 2.65 blocks per set average is second in the NCAA and first in the NESCAC as Wesleyan is the only team in the league averaging more than two blocks per set.
 
Individual standouts are aplenty on this team as the Cardinals tied a team and NESCAC record with three First Team All-NESCAC selections. In total, four Cardinals earned All-NESCAC recognition which is a new team record. Sophia Lindus '26 was voted NESCAC Player of the Year for the second straight season, having led the NESCAC in kills (4.17) and points (4.62) per set while hitting .306, which is seventh overall and tops among the league's outside hitters. Bianca Ortiz '24 earned NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year honors as she leads all NESCAC players in digs per set at 6.05, a total that puts her eighth in the nation and first among players on teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Finally, Head Coach Ben Somera was recognized by the NESCAC for the first time in his career, earning Coaching Staff of the Year honors as his team hasn't lost to a NESCAC foe all season (13-0 including playoffs).
 
Making the All-NESCAC First Team, joining Lindus and Ortiz, is Kathryn Morton '24 as she leads all NESCAC players in hitting percentage (.366) and blocks per set (1.08). This is the second straight season in which Morton has topped the NESCAC player list in hitting percentage. Michelle Jorba '26 was an All-NESCAC performer as well, earning a Second Team nod as she ranks second on the team in kills (149) and blocks (54) this season in 20 matches played. Her .268 hitting percentage is 12^th-best in the league and third-best among outside hitters in the NESCAC. She also ranks inside the Top 10 in blocks per set at 0.81.
 
This is the Cardinals' seventh total NCAA appearance and sixth consecutive as the team first made the NCAA Tournament back in 2001. Wesleyan has advanced to the regional semifinal, winning at least one match in the national postseason tournament, in all six appearances in team history, including last season where the Cardinals swept Eastern Nazarene in the first round in a match played at home. Wesleyan has advanced to the regional final twice before and the team's deepest NCAA Tournament run came in 2018 when the Cardinals made it to the NCAA Quarterfinal (Elite 8) round before losing in five sets to Juniata in Pittsburgh.
 
Out of the seven teams in the regional pod Wesleyan was selected to, the Cardinals have faced just four of the seven before previously. Wesleyan is 19-13 all-time against league rival Middlebury, 1-0 all-time against Christopher Newport (3-2 win in 2017), 0-1 against Johns Hopkins (3-1 loss in 2009), and 2-0 against Lasell (3-1 win in 2012, 3-0 win in 2000). The Cardinals have never faced Gallaudet, Ramapo, and Manhattanville.