Wellesley Volleyball Rolls to 3-0 NEWMAC Win at Mount Holyoke

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball rallied late in the third set to earn a 3-0 (25-9, 25-11, 26-24) sweep of Mount Holyoke College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday. The win helps the Blue improve to 7-7 on the season and 4-1 in conference play. Mount Holyoke drops to 5-7 and 0-6 in NEWMAC contests.

The Blue hit .382 as a team on the evening, as junior Brooke Fieldman (Greenwood Village, Colo.), led all players with a match-high 14 kills, hitting .435 on 23 attempts while making just four errors. First year Yasmine Reece was the only other player in the match to record double-digit kills, also hitting over .400, at .444. First year Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) added 31 assists and seven digs, while classmate Samantha Hoang (Elk Grove, Calif.) added a match-high 14 digs.

Mount Holyoke first year Jamesa Allen (Orlando, Fla.) had a team-high five kills and two service aces. Classmate Sarah Caggiano (Leonardtown, Md.) and senior Emma Sweeting (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.) each added four kills apiece, with Sweeting also notching a team-high seven digs. Junior Natalie Lyon (Oakton, Va.) tied with Sweeting for team-high honors with seven digs, also adding 15 assists. 

Wellesley broke an early 4-4 tie in the first set, going on a 10-1 run to jump out to a 14-5 lead. The Lyons briefly stalled the Blue's momentum, when Allen put down a kill to make the score 14-6, but Wellesley rattled off the next six points in a row to take a 20-6 lead. A pair of Wellesley errors and another kill from Allen helped the Lyons get three points back, but Wellesley scored the final five of the set to take the 25-9 set one victory.

In the second set, the Blue opened up another early lead. Wellesley jumped to an 11-5 edge following a kill from Fieldman. From there, the Blue would continue to grow their advantage, eventually taking an 18-9 lead following a kill from first year Samantha Ostenso (Hopkins, Minn.). A Blue service error made the score 18-10 before back-to-back kills from sophomore Eryn Halvey (La Verne, Calif.) and Reece made the score 20-10. The Lyons grabbed one more point on a Wellesley service error but the Blue again added the final five points to win the set 25-11, this time on three aces from sophomore Katie Yan (Cohoes, N.Y.) and kills from Li and Reece.  

Mount Holyoke opened up a 6-2 advantage early in the third set, holding the lead until the Blue fought back to tie the match at 16-16. A Wellesley error and a kill from first year Elise Griffin (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) then made the score 17-17. The Lyons regained their advantage, scoring the next three points to jump up 20-17. However, the Blue scored five of the next seven points to tie the set again, this time at 22-all. Reece then recorded back-to-back kills to get the Blue within a point of the sweep, at 24-22. A Wellesley error and a kill from Caggiano tied the set for the fifth time, 24-24, before Reece ended the match, 26-24, with a kill followed by an ace.   

Wellesley returns to non-conference play on Friday, October 2, with a 6:00 PM match at UMass Boston. Mount Holyoke will take on Regis and Worcester St. in a tri-match at Regis on Saturday, October 3.