NEW LONDON, Conn. – The No. 11 ranked Wesleyan volleyball team made the crucial plays in the late stages of both the first and third sets to earn a three-set sweep of Conn. College from Luce Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. With the win, Wesleyan (12-0, 5-0 NESCAC) remains one of just two undefeated teams in Division III.
Wesleyan's offense got back on track, hitting .275 against the Camels as a team, just one night removed from hitting a season-low .157 against Trinity on Friday night. Six Cardinals recorded at least four kills in the win while four Cards hit north of .350 in a well-balance attack.
The opening set saw Wesleyan build a 10-5 lead in the early going with the Cardinals scoring three unanswered points from the start, followed by a 4-0 run later. Wesleyan looked to be running away with the first set, leading 22-15 and 23-17, only to see the Camels score five unanswered to trail by just one.
Siena Steines '28 then put an end to the Conn run with a kill, followed by a
Paulina Marino-Bindi '27 kill that landed the Cardinals a 25-22 opening set win.
The second set was one-way traffic as Wesleyan hit .333 as a team with 14 kills on 30 attempts while Conn had more attack errors (eight) than kills (seven) in the frame. The lead changed hands four times while the score was tied 11 times before Wesleyan won 11 of the final 12 points of the frame to land the 25-15 set win.
The third set saw the Cardinals bounce back from a 11-7 deficit, slowly working their way back to eventually lead 19-18. The two sides traded points until the Camels led 23-22, only to see a crucial service error lead to the start of a 3-0 Wesleyan run capped by a combined block from
India Clark '28 and
Fiona LaCamera '27 for the 25-23 third set win.
Carly Grumet '28 led the Cardinals with eight kills to go along with five digs. Marino-Bindi, LaCamera, and Clark each added seven kills while LaCamera also posted five digs and four blocks.
Alexa Schnell '29 and
Lucy Konisky '30 each tallied 18 assists while Schnell added six digs and two aces and Konisky posted three aces.
Next up for the Cardinals is a spotlight showdown with Top 10 ranked Colby, who finished Wesleyan's season in the Regional Final of the NCAA Tournament last season.
