MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The new-look defending NESCAC Champion and No. 14 nationally-ranked Wesleyan volleyball team saw eight make their debut as Cardinals in a convincing 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-14, 25-16) over Hartford on Tuesday night from Silloway Gym. Wesleyan opens the 2024 campaign with a win while upping the team's home winning streak to 11 straight matches.
 
Five Cardinals totaled at least five kills while eight finished the match with at least three. Bianca Gonya '25 landed eight kills with just one error in 11 attempts (.636 attack percentage) while Sophie Corbeil '28 racked up five kills in 11 attempts and Kate Carman '25, Morgan Mattson '28, and Carly Grumet '28 had three kills each in their Wesleyan debut.
 
Michelle Jorba '25 tied with Gonya for the team-lead in kills with eight. Lila Sayre '25 contributed across the board with six kills, five service aces, and six digs in what was just her third career start. Ali Landa '26 (11 assists, six digs) and Ella Blair '28 (12 assists, five digs) both showed well at the setter position while Paulina Marino-Bindi '27 (four assists, three digs) contributed in the third set. Adrienne Nguyen '28 led the team with three digs at the libero spot in her debut match.
 
A slow start to the proceedings saw Wesleyan trail 5-3 early in the first set before Blair led the Cardinals on a 5-0 scoring run to take an 8-5 lead. A four-point scoring margin held steady throughout much of the first set before Wesleyan won the final three points of the set uncontested, the last of which coming on a Jorba kill as the Cardinals claimed a 25-18 win.
 
The Hawks again were competitive against the Cardinals in the early stages of a set as the score was tied at 10 apiece before Sayre engineered a 6-0 run on her serve which catapulted into a 15-4 Cardinal run that resulted in a 25-14 second set triumph. Wesleyan hit .526 as a team (12 kills with two errors on 19 attempts) in the set while Gonya was a perfect 5-for-5 on her attacks.
 
Thirteen Cardinals saw the floor in the third set as Wesleyan built an early lead in a set for the first time on the evening, leading 6-1 early before ultimately building a 17-5 advantage. The lead held steady at double digits before the Cardinals closed out the match with a 25-16 third set win. Wesleyan held Hartford to just four kills with seven errors on 28 attempts in the third set, which translated into a -.107 attack percentage for the Hawks. Four Cardinals had 2+ kills in the third with three each coming from Mattson and Grumet.
 
The Cardinals are back in action on Friday night as Wesleyan welcomes Salve Regina for a 7 PM start. Wesleyan is 3-0 all-time against the Seahawks including a 3-0 sweep (25-14, 25-12, 25-19) in Newport last season.