LEWISTON, Me. – Looking to break out of a five-match losing streak, the Wesleyan volleyball team got the job done on Saturday in a four-set triumph over Bates (25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23) in the final match of the 2024 regular season. Wesleyan (13-10, 7-3 NESCAC) heads into the NESCAC Tournament as the four-seed and will play host to five-seed Trinity on Saturday in the Quarterfinal round.
 
Depsite seeing the Bobcats total 15 kills compared to 10 for the Cardinals in the opening set, it was a convincing 25-17 victory for Wesleyan to get the proceedings started. Bates trailed 10-9 and 14-12 before the Cardinals took complete control using a 7-0 run that included two kills from India Clark '28. Even though Bates finished +5 for the set in kills, Wesleyan's .286 attack percentage doubled up the Bobcats' .143 percentage in the set.
 
The second set saw Wesleyan jump out to a 6-2 lead only to see Bates hit back and lead 11-9. After trading points back-and-forth, the Cardinals used a 5-0 run to lead 16-13, but the Bobcats again answered with a 6-1 run of their own to hold a 23-20 advantage in the late stages. In need of a rally, Wesleyan closed the set with five unanswered points to win 25-23 and hold a two-set lead.
 
Bates didn't go away quietly in this one, using an early 5-0 run to lead 7-3 and the Bobcats never looked back, leading the remainder of the third set to capture a 25-21 victory and send the match into a fourth set.
 
Wesleyan controlled play for the early going of the fourth, leading 7-3 initially before the Bobcats worked their way back in, eventually taking a 16-14 lead and later holding a 21-19 advantage. Much like the second set, however, Wesleyan came up with a late set rally as a 3-0 run made it 24-22 Cardinals. Bates staved off one match point but not two as Michelle Jorba '25 and Bianca Gonya '25 combined on a match-clinching block to hand the Cardinals a 25-23 win.
 
Steines led the Cardinals with 12 kills while Clark totaled 10, hitting .429 on her 21 attempts. Jorba finished with eight kills, four total blocks, and four digs. Gonya went for five kills (.455 attack percentage) to go along with four total blocks.
 
Ali Landa '26 finished with a double-double, totaling 21 assists and 12 digs at the setter position. Libero Elliana Moreno '27 tallied a match-high 16 digs.
 
Wesleyan is back at home for the start of the NESCAC Tournament as the Cardinals play host to Trinity on Saturday at 3 PM. The Cardinals defeated the Bantams in a three-set sweep (25-17, 25-20, 25-23) back on October 4 in Silloway Gym in a match that Jorba dominated with 17 kills.