HARTFORD, Conn. – On a night where the offense wasn't firing on all cylinders, the No. 11 ranked Wesleyan volleyball team leaned on their defense and overcame a first set defeat to rally past Trinity in four sets on Friday night. With Colby's loss to Williams tonight, the Cardinals (11-0, 4-0 NESCAC) and Buena Vista are the last two remaining unbeaten teams in all of Division III.
Wesleyan struggled to find their spots on offense, recording a season-low .157 attack percentage as a team, but as all good teams do, the Cardinals found a way to keep their unbeaten streak alive behind an incredible defensive effort. In the four-set win, Wesleyan recorded season-highs in both digs (83) and total blocks (14) as Trinity recorded 46 kills and 35 attack errors on 182 swings, hitting .060 for the match.
The Cardinals saw their incredible 23-set win streak come to an end in a challenging opening frame that saw Wesleyan total just nine kills on 58 attempts. Trinity used an early 5-0 run to secure a lead that the Bantams wouldn't relinquish for the remainder of the set. Wesleyan cut the deficit down to two points on multiple occasions before a 4-0 scoring run tied the set score at 21 apiece. It was later 23-23 when Trinity came up with a pair of kills to earn a 25-23 first set win.
Wesleyan came roaring back in the second set, building an early 12-4 lead in a set that the Cardinals never trailed. The lead grew to double digits at 19-9 before Wesleyan closed out a comfortable 25-17 second set win. The Cardinals found success on offense, generating 13 kills on 38 swings, while Wesleyan generated four blocks in the frame including three block assists from both
Siena Steines '28 and
Katelyn Olin '27.
The third set was back-and-forth for the early stages before Wesleyan used a 4-0 run followed by a mini 3-0 scoring spree to open an 18-11 advantage. That proved more than enough in the end as Wesleyan triumphed with a 25-18 third set win. Wesleyan recorded their best single-set attack percentage in the match with a .235 clip in the third set while the Cardinals totaled four more blocks in the frame to move one set away from the win.
After setting the tone on defense in both the second and third sets, Wesleyan's defensive prowess wore on Trinity and the fourth set proved to be the final blow in a four-set win for the Cardinals. The Bantams led 10-9 in the fourth set before Wesleyan went on a 7-0 run that turned into a 16-4 run to close out the match in a 25-14 set win. Olin had two solo blocks in the fourth set while Trinity had more attack errors (11) than kills (eight) in the set.
Olin was outstanding at the net, totaling a career-high 11 blocks (two solo, nine assists), while
Mila Chan '28 tallied a career-high 18 digs to go along with six kills. Steines led the way offensively with eight kills to go along with six blocks and five digs.
Carly Grumet '28 added seven kills and 11 digs while
Alexa Schnell '29 had a double-double (18 assists, 11 digs) and
Elliana Moreno '27 finished with 16 digs.
Wesleyan is back in action on Saturday afternoon with a trip to Conn. College for a 2 PM start.
