MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – After nearly a full month since their last home game, the Wesleyan volleyball team made a triumvirate return to Silloway Gym as the Cardinals swept Trinity 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-23) on Friday night. The win moves the Cardinals to 8-5 overall (2-1 NESCAC) while the Bantams (12-2, 2-2 NESCAC) suffer just their second defeat of the season.
 
It was a consistent barrage on attack from Wesleyan that proved too much in the end for Trinity. The Cardinals registered 15 kills in all three sets and hit at least .263 in every set, hitting .298 for the night. The catalyst on attack was Michelle Jorba '25 as the senior outside hitter matched her career-high with 17 kills on just 30 attempts, hitting .533 against the Bantams. Jorba's first error didn't come until late in the third set as Trinity had no answer.
 
On the defensive side, Wesleyan finished +11 in digs, registering 62 as a team compared to 51 for the Bantams. Adrienne Nguyen '28 was outstanding, totaling a match-high 19 digs to go along with six assists playing as a defensive specialist on the back row. Morgan Mattson '28 posted 12 digs with five kills while Elliana Moreno '27 had 10 digs to give the Cardinals three players with double-digit digs.
 
It was back-and-forth in the early stages of the first set before a 5-1 Cardinal run pushed Wesleyan out in front 14-10. The Bantams used a 4-1 run to close the deficit to 18-17, but from that point forward, Wesleyan didn't drop a point as the Cardinals scored seven unanswered to take the opening set 25-17. Jorba had five kills in that 7-0 set-clinching run for Wesleyan.
 
The second set started much like how the first set finished, with Jorba accounting for two kills to help Wesleyan build a 6-3 lead. Trinity, however, answered back with six unanswered points to make it 9-6 Bantams. It was 14-9 Trinity and later 16-13 Bantams before Wesleyan used a 4-0 run to retake the lead and eventually win the set by a convincing 25-20 scoreline. Five different Cardinals registered kills in a 12-4 Wesleyan run to end the set.
 
Trinity dominated the early stages of the third set, taking a 10-4 lead which was their biggest lead in any of the three sets on the night. Working their way back into the set, Wesleyan won eight of the next 10 points to tie the score at 12 apiece. Wesleyan continued to push and used a 5-1 run to lead 17-14 before the Bantams mounted a late comeback to hold a 22-21 advantage. That, however, was followed by a crucial 3-0 Wesleyan run that included kills from Fiona LaCamera '27 and Jorba combined with a block from Bianca Gonya '25 to give the Cardinals a pair of match points. After squandering the first, setter Ali Landa '26 went right back to Jorba who finished off the match with her 17^th kill and 25-23 third set win.
 
Landa finished the match with 28 assists and eight digs as the primary setter on the night. Gonya went for eight kills on just 13 attempts, hitting .538 while adding five digs. India Clark '28 totaled six kills and hit .417 while LaCamera had four kills and a .571 attack percentage.
 
Wesleyan looks for the home NESCAC weekend sweep on Saturday with a 2 PM match against Conn. College.