Blue Volleyball Stays Perfect in NEWMAC Play; Wellesley Tops MHC

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Visiting Wellesley College upended the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team 3-1, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday evening. The victory moves Wellesley to 16-2 on the season and to a perfect 5-0 in conference play. Mount Holyoke slips to 8-6 overall and 0-6 in the NEWMAC.

Wellesley cruised to a 25-9 win in the opening set as junior Sydney Carfagno earned the visitors four straight points off the serve for a 12-4 lead. A kill from Lyons junior Rebecca Bland later pulled it to a 13-7 game, but five straight points on the serve by senior setter Hilary Ayers made it a 19-7 advantage for Wellesley.

In the second set, MHC jumped out to a huge advantage, taking a 9-0 lead, which included three straight aces from junior Stephany Yang. The Blue quickly turned the tides, pulling to within four (15-11) on a kill from senior Alixandra Binney. The Lyons continued to press down the stretch and capitalized on several Wellesley error and a kill from senior middle hitter Kristina Weld to take the set by a 25-19 margin.

The Blue bounced back in the third set and grabbed a 6-1 lead to get things going, including a pair of kills from junior Caitlin Laughlin. MHC rallied to make it 10-9 on a strike by senior Martina Kneifel, but six kills over the next 10 plays, including four from Carfagno made it a 23-12 advantage for Wellesley, who went on to win by a 25-16 margin in the third.

Wellesley closed out the game with a 25-12 win in the fourth set. After jumping out to a 7-3 advantage, the Blue saw the Lyons battle their way back in as junior Kaleen Iwema  put down a kill to make it 11-8. Four kills from Carfagno followed, along with three from senior Megan Mills, who laid down the match winning point for victory.

Carfagno led all players with 16 kills, also adding three aces and nine digs. Senior defensive specialist Traci Hamanaka recorded a game-high 12 digs, while Ayers had a game-high four aces and 31 assists.

For MHC, Kneifel posted nine kills, while Yang had three aces, nine assists and six digs. First year setter Natalie Lyon  added eight assists. 

Mount Holyoke returns to action on Tuesday, October 8 in a 7pm match at Coast Guard. Wellesley is back in action on Thursday with a 7pm tilt at UMass-Boston.