MIT Outlasts Wellesley Volleyball

WELLESLEY, Mass. – A huge hitting night for Jenny Astrachan, combined with aggressive serving from the visitors, sparked MIT to a 3-2 (25-17, 26-24, 15-25, 26-28, 15-4) win over Wellesley College on Tuesday night at Keohane Sports Center. The win lifts MIT to 17-2 on the season, 5-1 in the NEWMAC. The Blue drop 11-6 overall, 3-3 in conference play.

The Engineers tallied 13 aces on the night, using their serve to keep the Blue out-of-system for much of the evening and allowing them to hold the Blue to a .182 hitting percentage.  Meanwhile, MIT's pin hitters – Astrachan, Megan Gebhard, and Jennie Glerum -- combined for 46 kills, hitting at a .268 clip in the win.

Astrachan led the way for the Engineers, recording 27 kills on 65 attempts with just five errors, while a contributing three aces. Gebhard added 15 kills, while Alli Davanzo chipped in eight kills and four blocks. Glerum pounded four kills on just nine error-free swings to lead all hitters with a .444 hitting percentage.

Rounding out the scorecard for MIT, Tori Wuthrich led all players with 23 digs to go along with two aces. Clare Farley added nine digs and five aces. Nicole Gagnier captained the offense, dishing out 53 assists in the five-set victory.

Sydney Carfagno led the Blue with a double-double, hammering 18 kills while collecting 18 digs. Courtney Lang chalked up a double-double as well, with 10 kills and 10 digs. Maddie Koh distributed 39 assists to go along with four aces in the loss.

MIT came out of the gate on fire, hitting .531 while putting down 17 kills in the first set, on15 assist from Gagnier, to take a 25-17 victory. The Engineers never trailed throughout the opening game.

Despite falling in a 6-1 hole n the second set, Wellesley stormed back to take its first lead of the night at 13-12 following an MIT error. The Blue and Engineers continue to exchange points in the late stages of the set until Wellesley found separation, taking four point leads at 23-19 and 24-20. However, the Blue could not close out the set. A pair of kills for Gebhard and a pair of Blue errors allowed MIT tie the game at 24-all. The visitors then took a 25-24 advantage on another Blue mistake before Davanzo put down a kill to seal the 26-24 set two victory. 

The Blue got out to a big advantage in the third set, leading 14-4 following a kill from Carfagno. Wellesley grew its advantage to 18-7 following an MIT error before a small run from the Engineers forced a Wellesley timeout with the score at 18-11. From there, both Lang and Laughlin put down kills as the Blue countered with a commanding 25-5 set three win.

The fourth set was the closest of the night. No more than two points separated the teams throughout the set, until the Blue took a 20-17 advantage late in the game. The Blue held their advantage to 23-20, however, MIT once again rallied to close the gap as Astrachan put down three consecutive kills to tie the score at 23-all. Following a kill from Meryl Gibbs, the Enginneers were one point away from victory at 24-23. This time it was the Blue's turn to rally as Wellesley worked to tie the score at 26-all before Lang and Fieldman put down kills to secure the 28-26 set win.

In the fifth set, MIT ended the night like they started. The Engineers got out to a commanding 8-1 lead as the teams switched sides, eventually taking a 10-1 advantage. Astrachan would then cap off her standout performance with the final kill of the night to give MIT a 15-4 victory in the deciding game and 3-2 match victory.

MIT returns to action on Thursday, October 9, at 7pm, when they host Wheaton College. Wellesley will take the court next Tuesday, October 14, when they travel to Clark for a 7pm match.