MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The No. 12 ranked Wesleyan volleyball team controlled play throughout in a three-set sweep of Williams on Friday night from Silloway Gymnasium. With the win, Wesleyan (18-4, 8-2 NESCAC) secures a fifth straight Little Three Championship while this also marks the team's eighth Little Three title in the past nine seasons. The Ephs' (11-11, 4-5 NESCAC) slide continues as Williams loses their sixth consecutive match.
Wesleyan's triumph marks the Cardinals' 14
th sweep on the year, as 14 of the team's 18 wins have come in just three sets. This marks the team's sixth straight victory this fall while the Cardinals complete their NESCAC regular season slate with an 8-2 record. Wesleyan currently holds the top spot in the NESCAC standings and have secured at least the #2 seed for the NESCAC Tournament. Colby would pass the Cardinals for the #1 seed if the Mules defeat Bates on Saturday.
The Cardinals came out swinging in the opening set, hitting .314 as a team with 15 kills and just four errors on 35 attempts. It was an 8-2 run for Wesleyan that was the difference in the first set, as the Cardinals turned a 6-5 deficit into a 13-8 lead. The Ephs would only get to within a three-point margin for the remainder of the set before the Cardinals finished a 25-19 set win. Five Cardinals had at least two kills in the set with
Mila Chan '28 leading the team with four.
Wesleyan never trailed in the second set, building a 4-1 lead that turned into an 8-3 advantage and later a 13-6 margin. Williams would claw back and challenge late, getting back to a two-point margin at 21-19 and later 23-21, but the Cardinals held their nerve down the stretch and a Chan kill finished a 25-21 set win. Chan was active again, leading the team with five kills in the third set while
Ariella Garrell '29 registered six digs in the frame to lead all players.
Looking to finish off the match in a sweep, Wesleyan ran away from the Ephs in the third set as five unanswered points for the Cardinals turned into a 11-1 run that made it 15-6 Wesleyan.
Elliana Moreno '27 served Wesleyan in the run of five unanswered points while
Lucy Konisky '30 finished off the +10 run as she served the Cardinals to a string of six unanswered points. The closest Williams would get to Wesleyan in the remainder of play was a five-point margin, as the Cardinals won the match and secured a sweep on a 25-18 third set win.
Siena Steines '28 posted four kills in the third set while Moreno had seven digs and Chan had six.
For the match, Chan led the way with 11 kills and 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the year. Steines hit .368 with nine kills on 19 swings.
Fiona LaCamera '27 went for seven kills and five total blocks.
Moreno posted a match-high 17 digs in just three sets played. Konisky totaled 17 assists, three aces, and five digs and
Alexa Schnell '29 went for 13 assists and five digs.
Wesleyan completes the regular season on Saturday with a 3 PM tilt against No. 10 ranked NYU in Silloway Gym.
