Blue Volleyball Advances to NEWMAC Semifinals with 3-1 Victory at Wheaton

NORTON, Mass. -- Senior Sydney Carfagno recorded 21 kills to lead fifth-seeded Wellesley College volleyball to a 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 25-21, 25-20) victory over fourth-seeded Wheaton College in the quarterfinals of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Volleyball Championship Tournament.

The Blue improve to 17-10 on the season and will play at top seeded MIT (26-4) on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM in the NEWMAC Tournament Semifinals. Wheaton ends the season with an 18-14 overall record.

Carfagno eclipsed the twenty kill mark for the third consecutive match, leading the Blue with a .381 hitting percentage. The reigning NEWMAC Volleyball Player of the Week also recorded a team-high 17 digs to go along with four assists and three service aces.

Senior Caitlin Laughlin and junior Courtney Lang also recorded double-digit kills for the Blue, as Laughlin put down 11 kills and Lang added 10. Sophomore Brooke Fieldman and first year Katie Yan helped pace the Blue on defense, collecting 13 and 11 digs, respectively. Maddie Koh also finished in double-figures with 10 digs to go along with a match-high 46 assists.

Junior Deirde Wilson recorded a team-high 16 kills and 18 digs for host Wheaton. Wilson also added 16 assists for the Lyons, who were hosting their first playoff contest since 1996. Junior Arieanne Creighton tacked on seven kills, while classmates Kendall Jacobs and Casey Hess each added six for the Lyons. First year Stephanie Martin recorded 14 digs while Caitlin Hellebrand also added 17 assists.

The Blue broke a 13-all tie with a 6-0 run in the first set, as Lang put down a kill to give Wellesley a 19-13 advantage. A Creighton kill and and ace from Elise Waelder helped the Lyons pick up the next two points to make the score 19-15. Now leading 19-15, the Blue scored six of the last seven points in the set to secure a 25-16 victory.

Leading 18-10 in the second set it looked like Wellesley was in line to take a two sets to none advantage. However, Wheaton rallied to even the match at 1-1. The Lyons, who put together their best hitting percentage on the night of .306, rallied with a 12-4 run to knot up the score at 22-22. The Lyons then out dueled the Blue in the closing points of the set as Wilson and Hess rattled off back-to-back kills to claim the set, 26-24.

Wheaton led once in set three, at 14-13, but Wellesley used an 8-3 to take a 21-17 advantage forcing the Lyons to take its second timeout of the set. The Blue held off a late rally by the hosts, capitalizing on three errors down the stretch, to take the 25-21 win.

The fourth set featured 11 ties and three lead changes. With Wheaton trailing 20-15 after using their final timeout, a pair of unforced errors from the Blue helped the Lyons to get within three, at 20-17. However,  Wellesley promptly called a timeout and went on to take the set 25-20 behind a pair of kills from Carfagno and Lindsay Menichella and three Wheaton errors.

The winner of Saturday's semifinal match between Wellesley and MIT will take on the winner of the second semifinal between sixth-seeded Coast Guard (19-11) and second-seeded Babson (24-8) in the NEWMAC Championship on Sunday at 1:00 PM.