MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – After holding off a gamely eighth-seeded Amherst side in the first set, the Wesleyan volleyball team rolled in sets two and three to sweep the Mammoths (25-23, 25-12, 25-18) form Silloway Gymnasium on Sunday in the NESCAC Quarterfinal round. The top-seeded Cardinals (20-1) advance to the NESCAC Semifinals for the sixth straight season, where they will play host to #10 seed Bowdoin on Friday at 5 PM.
 
The Mammoths led for a majority of the first set, holding as much as a three-point lead in the early going and owning a lead as late as 17-16 before a crucial 6-1 run kickstarted the Cardinals were firing on all cylinders from that point on.
 
Wesleyan used that scoring run and closed out a 25-23 first set win on a combined block from Bella Ahearn '23 and Mariko Tanaka '24. The Cardinals went on to hit .464 in a dominating 25-12 second set win, holding the Mammoths to just .051 hitting on the other end. Wesleyan needed only 28 attempts to amass 14 kills, committing just one attack error in the frame.
 
It was 7-1 Cardinals to start the second set and a 6-0 run followed, building Wesleyan a double-digit lead at 14-4. That lead swelled to 21-8 before ultimately closing out a convincing 13-point second set win.
 
With the Mammoths' backs against the wall, the Cardinals continued to pour it on, opening the third set with an 8-2 run before holding a 12-4 advantage following back-to-back Michelle Jorba '25 kills. After Amherst closed the deficit to five points, the Cardinals used a 4-0 run that extended to a 7-1 run, taking their biggest lead of the set at 21-10. The Mammoths won eight of the final 12 points of the match, but it was too little too late as Wesleyan's 25-18 third set win clinched the victory.
 
Bianca Ortiz '24 led the back row with 30 digs, a new career-high for the Cardinals' libero in a three-set match. Sophia Lindus '26 posted her fourth straight double-double, matching the longest streak of her career, with 13 kills and 13 digs.
 
Outside hitters Michelle Jorba '25 (12 kills, one error, .458 attack percentage) and Kate Long '24 (seven kills, 0 errors, .500 attack percentage) combined for 21 kills with just one error in the match. Kathryn Morton '24 led the middle hitters with five kills, two service aces, and six total blocks.
 
Setters Ali Landa '26 (23 assists) and Maya Lopansri '25 (19 assists) combined for 42 assists in the three-set sweep. Landa added eight digs and two service aces to her match totals.
 
Wesleyan shifts their focus to the Polar Bears who beat the two-seed Colby in Waterville in four sets this afternoon. Just 36 hours removed from toppling seven-seed Hamilton on the road on Friday night, also in four sets. Bowdoin had long been a thorn in the Cardinals' side, as Wesleyan had lost four straight matches against the Polar Bears dating back to 2019, prior to a 3-1 triumph (25-11, 18-25, 25-21, 25-20) in Middletown this season. The other NESCAC Semifinal match pits five-seed Tufts against six-seed Williams in a match that will be played following the conclusion of Wesleyan vs. Bowdoin in Silloway Gym on Friday night.