BALTIMORE, Md. –  Nothing was made easy for the Wesleyan volleyball team, facing a Gallaudet side that hadn't lost since September in the NCAA First Round, but the Cardinals proved too much in the end as Wesleyan secured a three-set sweep (25-22, 25-21, 25-21) on Thursday afternoon at Johns Hopkins. Wesleyan (23-1) improves to 7-0 all-time in NCAA First Round matches and advance to face Christopher Newport in the NCAA Second Round on Friday at 4:30 PM.
 
Long rallies and impressive serving from the Bison made it difficult on the Cardinals, but efficient hitting on offense saw Wesleyan hit .252 with 40 kills and just 13 errors in the match. Wesleyan improved their hitting percentage in every set (.194 in set one, .244 in set two, .314 in set three) while Bianca Ortiz '24 put forth a sensational effort at libero, recording 26 of Wesleyan's 55 digs in the match. That 26-dig total is the third-highest single-game total in the Cardinals' NCAA Tournament history.
 
Wesleyan was the better side in the early stages of the match, jumping out to a 10-3 lead after a 7-1 run. The Bison fought back with a 5-0 run that lowered the deficit to two but Wesleyan responded with six unanswered points to build a 19-11 advantage. Closing out the set, however, proved a challenge as Gallaudet won five straight points on two separate occasions, making it 23-21 Cardinals. Lila Sayre '25 then came up with a kill to put an end to the second 5-0 Gallaudet run and Kate Long '24 put away a kill on set point as the Cardinals won the opening set 25-22.
 
Gallaudet was the better side at the start of the second set, building a 5-1 lead before Wesleyan answered back with a 10-0 run on the serve of Maya Lopansri '25 to take a 11-5 lead. That 10-0 scoring run loomed large as the Bison cut the deficit down to 11-9 on a 4-0 run, but that was as close as Gallaudet would get to the Cardinals in the remainder of the second set as Bella Ahearn '23 put away a 25-21 second set win with a kill on the fourth set point for the Cardinals of the set.
 
The two sides traded points in the early stages of set three, before a 4-0 Wesleyan run kickstarted a 11-3 swing to hand the Cardinals an eight-point lead at 17-9. The Wesleyan advantage hovered at eight, and then seven, and then the Bison managed to get to within three, staving off two match points in the process. But on their third attempt, Wesleyan put the match away with another Ahearn kill, as the Cardinals won the third set 25-21 and the match.
 
Ahearn provided a team-high 12 kills on 30 attempts, hitting .300 for the match with seven digs and two blocks. Mariko Tanaka '24 hit a team-best .368 for the match with eight kills and just one error on 19 attempts to go along with three blocks. Kathryn Morton '24 contributed across the board with seven kills, five blocks, three digs, and two aces. Michelle Jorba '25 added seven kills and Kate Long '24 posted three kills, three digs, and three blocks.
 
Lopansri finished with 11 assists and four digs while Ali Landa '26 went for 18 assists and three digs at the setter spot. Kiana Yuhl '25 posted seven digs.
 
Awaiting the Cardinals in the NCAA Second Round is a showdown against Christopher Newport at 4:30 PM on Friday. The Captains defeated Ramapo in four sets in the First Round.