SCRANTON, Pa. – The Wesleyan volleyball team leaned on a balanced attack as contributions came from all over the lineup in a four-set win (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18) over Scranton on the road on Friday night. The Cardinals (6-4) are winners of two straight while the Royals (6-6) see their two-match win streak come to an end.
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The opening set was a constant swing back and forth as the Cardinals led 4-0 before Scranton quickly drew level at 5-5. Then the Cardinals took a 16-12 lead and continued to hold a four-point edge until Scranton lowered the deficit to 22-21. Serving for the match at 24-23, Wesleyan went to their senior
Lila Sayre '25 who delivered the set-clinching kill for a 25-23 first set win.
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Scranton was the better side in the early stages of set two, building an 11-7 lead and later holding a 21-16 advantage after ripping off an 8-2 run. Just as the Royals seemed destined to even the set score at 1-1, Wesleyan mounted a furious comeback that began with kills from
Michelle Jorba '25 and
Siena Steines '28 but Scranton still held the advantage at 23-21. Looking to serve out the set, the Cardinals were gifted a point on a Scranton set error, followed by an attack error that leveled the score at 23 apiece. Then Steines put the set away with back-to-back service aces as the Cardinals won nine of the final 11 points of the set to take another 25-23 win.
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The Royals bounced back in a big way, leading by as many as four points in the third set and never allowing the Cardinals to take a lead in the frame. The Cardinals used a late 4-1 run to even the score at 23-23, but Scranton got a sideout followed by a service ace from Katherine Denitz to stick in the match with a 25-23 win.
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The two sides traded points in the early stages of the fourth set before eight unanswered Wesleyan points saw the Cardinal lead balloon to 16-8 and eventually 18-9. The Royals came roaring back with a 6-0 run of their own but would only get to within three points of the Cardinals for the remainder of the set as Wesleyan finished off the match with a 25-18 set win.
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Five Cardinals finished with at least seven kills while none of those five finished with more than 10 as Wesleyan employed a balanced attack in this one.
Michelle Jorba '25 recorded a team-leading 10 kills while Sayre totaled nine with a team-best .421 attack percentage.
Sophie Corbeil '28 had nine kills with a .389 attack percentage.
Morgan Mattson '28 finished with eight kills and just one error on 25 attempts while
Fiona LaCamera '27 hit .400 with seven kills.
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Ali Landa '26 recorded a season-high 29 assists in the win while
Elliana Moreno '27 and
Adrienne Nguyen '28 both had 15 digs to lead the team.
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The Cardinals have two neutral site matches at Scranton on Saturday with showdowns against Stevenson (1 PM) and Haverford (3 PM).