BALTIMORE, Md. – For the third time in program history, all of which coming in the past five seasons, the Wesleyan volleyball team is heading to the Sweet 16. The Cardinals (24-1) needed four sets to defeat Christopher Newport on Friday from Johns Hopkins University, but it was a resounding match-clinching 11-1 run that erased a 16-14 deficit, and give Wesleyan the victory (25-19, 25-19, 19-25, 25-17).
 
Wesleyan is off to the Sweet 16 (Regional Final) for the third time in the past five seasons, establishing a standard as one of the elite programs in the country. Awaiting the Cardinals is a showdown against No. 9 ranked and host Johns Hopkins on Saturday at 5 PM with a trip to the Elite 8 (NCAA Quarterfinal) on the line.
 
It was CNU who had the upper hand early, establishing a 7-2 lead early in the first set while continuing to hold a lead up until 15-13. What followed was a 7-0 run off the serve of Bianca Ortiz '24 that included a service ace and two Kathryn Morton '24 kills as Wesleyan led 20-15. The Cardinals weren't threatened in the remainder of the first set, leading by as many as seven points before closing out a 25-19 first set win.
 
Much like the first set, the two sides were separated by two points or less throughout a majority of the second set, until the Cardinals put up four unanswered points off the Kiana Yuhl '25 serve to give Wesleyan a 19-14 lead. After CNU scored a point, the Cardinals continued with three more unanswered, giving Wesleyan more than enough cushion to close out another 25-19 set win.
 
Wesleyan looked to have complete control of the third set, going up 8-3 early and leading 14-10 at the midway point. However, the Captains put together their best stretch of the match, putting away nine unanswered points which extended to a 13-2 run as CNU secured a 25-19 third set win.
 
The momentum continued to swing as CNU led 11-7 in the third set before Wesleyan took the lead thanks to a 5-0 run with Michelle Jorba '25 and Mariko Tanaka '24 combining for a pair of blocks in the scoring spree. It was 14-12 Cardinals before the Captains answered back with a 4-0 run to hold a 16-14 CNU lead. Then the match-defining sequence saw Wesleyan put together an incredible five minutes of volleyball, ripping off five unanswered points which turned into a match-clinching 11-1 run as the Cardinals won the fourth set 25-17.
 
Ahearn recorded three of her team-high 12 kills in that match-clinching 11-1 run. She added a career-high 11 digs, giving her the first double-double of her career., while she hit .290 on 31 attempts As a team, Wesleyan only hit .198 for the match with 39 kills on 121 attempts, but the difference in the outcome was the error total as CNU committed 32 attack errors for the match compared to 15 for the Cardinals.
 
Blocking had a major role in the 32 CNU errors, as Tanaka led the way with six total to go along with four kills, hitting .231. Four Cardinals totaled double-digit digs including 18 from Ortiz as well as 10 each from Yuhl and Ali Landa '26.
 
Morton dominated at the net, recording seven kills and no errors in 15 attempts (.467) with three blocks and two digs. Bianca Gonya '25 tallied four blocks with three kills while Tanaka had four kills to her name in the match.