MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – A pair of tight 25-23 set defeats was the difference in Saturday's 3-1 loss for the Wesleyan volleyball team against Middlebury from Pepin Gymnasium. With the defeat, the Cardinals (12-6, 6-2 NESCAC) see their five-match win streak come to an end while the Panthers (13-5, 7-1 NESCAC) remain in second place in the league standings.
Coming off an epic five-set thriller last night Williams, the Cardinals won the opening four points of this match and led by as many as six points midway through the first set. Wesleyan kept hold of a two-point lead and held a 23-22 advantage in the latter stages before the Panthers scored three unanswered points to take the opener 25-23.
Middlebury followed with a dominant showing in the second set, taking a 9-4 lead in the early stages and never looking back. Middlebury led by double digits before closing out a 25-16 set win to take a 2-0 lead.
Opening the third set on the
Carly Grumet '28 serve, Wesleyan rattled off a 9-0 run that included three kills from
Sophie Corbeil '28. That run created all the separation the Cardinals needed in the stanza, going on to win 25-18, and send the match to a fourth set. Wesleyan hit .263 with 13 kills and just three errors on 38 attempts in that set compared to .044 for Middlebury.
The fourth set was a back-and-forth hitter dual with the two sides combining for 34 kills. Middlebury came out with a 5-0 run early to take a 9-4 lead before the Cardinals worked their way back into the set, trailing 17-15 near the midway point. After the Panthers went back up 20-15, the Cardinals went on a 7-1 run as Corbeil caught fire again, recording four kills in the scoring run to give Wesleyan a 22-21 advantage. Even with momentum on the side of the visitors, the Panthers were up for the challenge, finishing off the match on a 4-1 run to win 25-23 in the four-set match.
Corbeil played her best match as a Cardinal, finishing with 12 kills and just one error on 26 attempts, hitting .423 with six digs in just two sets played.
Bianca Gonya '25 joined her in double figures with 10 kills to go along with five total blocks and four digs.
Siena Steines '28 finished with nine kills and six digs with a .400 attack percentage.
Elliana Moreno '27 went for a career-high 23 digs while
Adrienne Nguyen '28 recorded 11 digs in the defeat.
Paulina Marino-Bindi '27 ran the attack at setter, totaling a career-high 27 assists with nine digs, three kills, and seven total blocks.
Wesleyan switches back to non-conference action next weekend as the Cardinals play host to Colby, Ithaca, and Juniata for five matches in two days. Wesleyan opens with a match against No. 1 Juniata on Friday at 7:30 PM.
