BRISTOL, R.I. – It's tough to envision a better start to the new campaign for the Wesleyan volleyball team who opened the 2025 season with a dominant 3-0 sweep of Wheaton on Friday afternoon. The Cardinals (1-0) toppled the Lyons 25-10, 25-14, 25-12 on the campus of Roger Williams.
 
Wesleyan hit .305 as a team, with 31 kills against just six attack errors for the match. The Cardinals also totaled 12 blocks, holding Wheaton to a -0.020 hitting percentage in the three-set sweep, and added seven services aces.
 
In what was her first career start, Keira Sweetnam '27 made the most the opportunity as the junior outside hitter recorded a career-high seven kills with no errors in 17 attempts, hitting .412 while adding three blocks and two digs. India Clark '28 stuffed the stat sheet with six kills and no errors in 11 attempts, hitting a team-best .545, while adding six total blocks and four digs. Ali Landa '26 dished out 22 assists with eight digs while Elliana Moreno '27 posted a team-leading 11 digs.
 
Making a long-awaited return to the court, the two-time All-American and two-time NESCAC Player of the Year Sophia Lindus '26 made her first appearance in the black and red since a gruesome injury suffered late in warmups prior to the 2023 NESCAC Semifinal match against Bowdoin. Playing in her first competitive match in 671 days, Lindus flashed with 10 kills (.292 attack percentage) in 24 attempts, eight digs, three service aces, and two total blocks.
 
Lindus opened the match with back-to-back kills in her return to action and after the score was tied 6-6, Wesleyan won 19 of the final 24 points to claim a 25-10 first set win. Wesleyan won eight consecutive points in that set to turn a 12-8 lead into a commanding 20-8 advantage.
 
Wesleyan jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the second set, but Wheaton came back to lower the deficit to 12-9 near the midway point. With the Cardinals leading 14-10 and serving, Clark went to work with two kills and then combined with Sweetnam with a block to finish off a 5-0 scoring run. That gave Wesleyan more than enough cushion to finish off a 25-14 win.
 
Wheaton won four of the first six points in the third set to hold a 4-2 lead, only to see the Cardinals storm back in front and lead 16-9. Sweetnam, Lindus, and Siena Steines '28 combined for multiple kills in that stretch and Wesleyan went on to finish off the sweep with a 7-0 run clinch the 25-12 third set win.
 
The Cardinals have a quick turnaround as Wesleyan is back in action on Saturday at Noon against the host Roger Williams and then at 2 PM against Simmons in a neutral site match.