The defending NESCAC Champion Wesleyan volleyball team heads into championship weekend looking to defend their 2023 title. The four-seed Cardinals (14-10, 7-3 NESCAC) will face two-seed Middlebury (14-10, 7-3 NESCAC) in the semifinal round on Friday night with the winning team advancing to face the winner of the other semifinal featuring six-seed Williams against top-seed Colby on Saturday in Waterville.
 
Wesleyan reached this stage of the tournament following a thrilling five-set home win over Trinity in the NESCAC Quarterfinal round last Saturday. Trailing 11-8 in the fifth set, the Cardinals ripped off seven unanswered points to rally past the Bantams and reach the championship weekend of the NESCAC Tournament for the seventh straight year. Michelle Jorba '25 tied her career-high with 17 kills, hitting .375 with six total blocks and three digs in the win. Siena Steines '28 had a career day, going for career-highs in kills (14) and digs (12) as the first-year recorded her first career double-double. Ali Landa '26 (30 assists, eight digs) and Paulina Marino-Bindi '27 (23 assists, nine digs) combined for 53 assists and 17 digs at setter. Adrienne Nguyen '28 was stellar throughout, recording 19 digs.
 
This will be the third meeting this season between the Cardinals and Panthers, with Middlebury coming out on top in four-set wins in both showdowns. Middlebury won convincingly in the first matchup back on September 14 but the Cardinals were very competitive in the second meeting, dropping the first and fourth sets by a score of 25-23. Wesleyan has hit very well against Middlebury, going for .215 in the first meeting and .224 in the second, but passing hurt the Cardinals significantly in the first matchup, with the team committing 17 reception errors back in September. Middlebury recorded six service aces in the October win compared to just two for Wesleyan in that meeting.
 
For the season, Wesleyan is tied for second in the NESCAC in hitting percentage (.203) but just ninth in kills per set (11.51) as the Cardinals lean on their net play for points, heading into Friday with a league-leading 2.82 blocks per set average on the season. The next-closest NESCAC team has 62 less total blocks than Wesleyan's 253.5 on the season.
 
Bianca Gonya '25 leads the NESCAC in hitting percentage, converting at a .346 clip on the year with 124 kills on 283 attempts. Gonya also ranks second in the NESCAC in blocks per set, averaging 1.15 heading into Friday.
 
Jorba leads the team in kills with 226 on the season, hitting .271 on 557 attempts. Sophie Corbeil '28 has 143 kills in 67 sets played (2.13 kills per set) while Siena Steines '28 has come on late in the year, averaging 2.45 kills per set in NESCAC-only matches. India Clark '28 is hitting .263 in conference matches with 47 kills on 137 attempts.
 
Ali Landa '26 has been the primary setter for the Cardinals this season, heading into the weekend with 491 assists in 88 sets played. Landa is averaging 5.58 assists per set while her 151 digs ranks third-best on the team.
 
Middlebury is one of four schools (Amherst, Tufts, and Williams) to appear in every NESCAC Tournament since 1999. The Panthers rank first in the NESCAC in digs per set (17.70) while sitting inside the top five in hitting percentage (.199), blocks per set (1.92), and total kills (1,151). Leading the league with 3.74 kills per set is outside hitter Molly Harrison who has recorded 17 double-doubles this fall and has 348 kills in 93 sets played. Gabbie O'Toole paces the NESCAC with 9.52 assists per set while Annabella Rando ranks second in the league at 4.68 digs per set.