Amherst Has Edge as Blue Volleyball Opens Hall of Fame Tournament

AMHERST, Mass. – Amherst College posted a 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-15) sweep of Wellesley College volleyball in the opening match of the 2014 Hall of Fame Tournament on Friday evening at LeFrak Gymnasium. Wellesley falls to 14-8 on the season while host Amherst improves to 17-5 overall.

Marialexa Natsis led the way for the Jeffs, registering a match-high nine kills on eleven attempts. Maggie Danner added seven kills and a pair of digs while Asha Walker and Katie Warshaw added 10 and 9 kills, respectively. Walker also tallied a match-high five service aces. Nicole Carter added 18 assists and four digs for the hosts. 

Brooke Fieldman had a team-high eight kills for the Blue while senior Sydney Carfagno added seven kills. Taylor Jais finished with a match-high 11 digs, leading a Blue defense that also saw Carfagno add seven digs and Fieldman and Katie Yan both collect six digs. Maddie Koh tallied a match-high 22 assists and three service aces for the Blue.

Despite Koh's match-high 22 assists, the Blue struggled to gain momentum on offense. Lindsey Menichella put down four kills on seven attempts but she and Fieldman were the only two Wellesley players to finish with positive hitting percentages. 

Amherst raced out to big advantages in all three sets. The Jeffs opened the match by taking an 11-3 lead in set one. The Blue rallied to cut the deficit to 11-8, as a pair of kills from Menichella and an ace from Koh combined with a pair of Amherst errors brought Wellesley to within four. The Blue would then cut the deficit to three points at 15-12 and 16-13 but would get no closer in the opening set, dropping a 25-20 decision. 

The Jeffs built a substantial 13-1 advantage in the second set, cruising to a 25-12 victory, before closing out the Blue with a 25-15 victory in the final set. The Jeffs broke open an early 4-all tie to take leads of 12-5 and 20-10 before closing out the third and final set for the 3-0 match victory. 

Wellesley will continue the Hall of Fame Tournament tomorrow afternoon. The Blue will take on Tufts at noon at Smith College before returning to Amherst to play Bowdoin at 4:00 PM. Amherst will take on MIT at 11:00 AM and Brandeis University at 3:00 PM.