MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Wesleyan volleyball team amassed 76 digs, with three Cardinals finishing in double figures, in a 3-0 sweep (25-11, 25-17, 25-21) of Susquehanna on Friday afternoon in a match played at Swarthmore. The Cardinals improve to 4-0 for the third time in the past four seasons while the River Hawks drop to 0-7.
The 76 digs represent the most the Cardinals have tallied in a three-set match since defeating Middlebury in a sweep back on October 28, 2022.
Elliana Moreno '27 led the charge with 20 digs in just two sets played while
Siena Steines '28 had a career-high 18 digs and
Sophia Lindus '26 added 13. Wesleyan's proficiency digging balls held Susquehanna in check all afternoon as the River Hawks could only generate 24 kills on 124 swings.
Not only did Steines shine defensively, as her 18 digs easily bested her previous career-high of 12, but she dominated at the net with 13 kills on just 27 swings. The 13 kills are a season-high and the second-highest single-match total of her career while she committed just one attack error, giving her a .444 attack percentage against Susquehanna. The 13-kill, 18-dig performance was good enough for her second career double-double.
Lindus added nine kills to her 13 digs while
India Clark '28 posted seven kills on 14 attacks wiIth just one attack error (.429 attack percentage).
Keira Sweetnam '27,
Fiona LaCamera '27, and
Sophie Corbeil '28 each finished with four kills.
Ali Landa '26 totaled 26 assists and five digs while
Alexa Schnell '29 showed well in her first career appearance, finishing with 11 assists, two kills, and seven digs.
Wesleyan dominated all facets of the first set, recording 14 kills to Susquehanna's two. As a team, the River Hawks had just two kills with six errors on 32 swings in the opening set as the Cardinals rolled to a 25-11 victory. Susquehanna answered back with a 6-0 run of their own to tie the score but Wesleyan slowly rebuilt a sizeable lead at 21-17 before winning the final four points of the set to claim a 25-17 win.
The third set was much closer as the Cardinals looked to be running away with this one, building a 6-1 early lead, only to see the River Hawks eventually tie the score at 15-15. A crucial 3-0 Cardinal run followed to give Wesleyan a three-point advantage and Susquehanna would only get to within a two-point deficit of the Cardinals' total for the remainder of the set before Wesleyan finished off the match with a 25-21 win.
Play continues Saturday with the Cardinals taking on the host Swarthmore at 12:30 PM before closing out with a neutral site match against Skidmore at 3 PM.
It was more of the same in the second set, with Wesleyan's attack going off for 19 kills in the second set alone. The Cardinals built a 10-4 lead following a run of seven unanswered points.
