#2 Wellesley Volleyball Tops #6 Coast Guard to Advance to NEWMAC Finals

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The second-seeded Wellesley College women's volleyball team powered past sixth-seeded Coast Guard in three sets to advance to the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Volleyball Championship on Saturday at Springfield College's Blake Arena. The Blue won by scores of 25-18, 25-14, 25-22.

The victory now makes Wellesley 28-5 on the season as they advance to the conference championship match for the third-straight year. Coast Guard falls to 22-9 after becoming the first-ever sixth-seed to win a quarterfinals match in NEWMAC Championship play as it bested third-seeded Babson in four sets on Tuesday.

Wellesley finished the match hitting .261 and was led by Sydney Carfagno, who notched 13 kills, nine digs, three aces, and two blocks. Courtney Lang added nine kills at a .391 clip, while both Kellyn O'Brady and Caitlin Laughlin tallied seven kills. Traci Hamanaka picked up a match-best 16 digs, and the setting duo of Hilary Ayers and Maddie Koh combined for 33 assists.

Coast Guard's Rebekah Muller paced the Bears with a double double as she recorded 12 kills and 12 digs. Samantha Marmolejo registered 15 digs, while Susan West racked up eight kills and eight digs. For the match, Coast Guard hit .065.

Laughlin connected out of the middle for the Blue to give them a 15-7 lead in the first, but Coast Guard rattled off seven of the set's next eight points with Marmolejo at the service line to make it a 15-14 contest following a block by Muller and Kelsey DePorto. Wellesley regrouped, using back-to-back kills by Lang to fuel a 9-4 push that gave them the first set by the score of 25-18.

Wellesley once again jumped out to an early advantage in the second, seizing a 15-6 lead after a kill by O'Brady. Coast Guard struggled to find its offensive rhythm, and with Wellesley hitting .391 for the frame, the Blue cruised to a 25-14 second-set win. Carfagno had five of her 13 kills in the frame.

The third set was the closest, featuring six ties and four lead changes. Coast Guard used a Muller kill and ace by Maggie Hine to earn a 17-15 cushion. Wellesley answered with a 6-1 burst, capped off by another Carfagno kill to take a 21-18 lead. The teams would trade points until Carfagno sealed the semifinal win with her 13th kill of the match.