Wellesley Volleyball Takes 3-1 Win Over Visiting Bridgewater St.

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College volleyball used aggressive serving and a strong middle attack to down Bridgewater State, 3-1 (27-25, 21-25, 25-14, 25-14), at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening. The non-conference win lifts the Blue to 9-10 overall. The Bears drop to 9-16.

The Blue dominated the middle, as first years Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and Elise Griffin (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) combined for 28 of Wellesley's 44 kills and played a part in all of Wellesley's eight team blocks. Reece led all players with 15 kills and three stuffs, followed by Griffin with a career-high 13 kills and five blocks.

Sophomore Katie Yan (Cohoes, N.Y.) and first year Samantha Hoang (Elk Grove, Calif.) anchored the floor defense for the Blue, combining for 19 digs, while junior Maddie Koh (Seattle, Wash.) and first year Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) combined for 43 assists in the win. Reece and Li led all servers with five aces a piece.

Sydney Bennett (North Attleboro, Mass.) and Clara Goncalves (Dennis, Mass.) led the Bears with nine kills and two blocks each. Julie Hutchins (Bellingham, Mass.) added seven kills, while Hanna Maymon (Narragansett, R.I.) chipped in six. Cassidy Tyros (Chelmsford, Mass.) led all players with 13 digs. Charleyne Panner (Gilford, N.H.) distributed 32 assists in the loss.

The Blue opened the match with a closely contested 27-25 victory in the first set, as Griffin put down back-to-back kills to close out the set after Wellesley let a 24-22 lead slip away just points before.

The visitors bounced back in the second set, despite falling behind the Blue, 15-13, midway through the game. Bridgewater St. rallied to tie the score at 16-all on a kill from Goncalves, before going on to score four of the next five points in the set to take a 20-17 advantage. Wellesley then got back to within a point, when a kill from Reece made it 20-19. However, Bridgewater St. never relinquished the late advantage, holding on to close out the 25-21 win and tie the match at 1-1. 

Wellesley put together two-straight 20-14 wins in the third and fourth sets to wrap up the match. Wellesley trailed only briefly in the third game, 2-0, before going on to take a commanding 19-11 lead. Following a Blue error, a kill from Li made the score 20-12. Wellesley continued on to earn the 25-14 victory as back-to-back aces from Li closed out the set.

Leading 12-9 in the fourth set, Wellesley put together a 5-0 run to put the match out of reach, at 17-9. The Bears responded with a pair of kills from Bennett, making the score 17-11, but three more points from the Blue only increased the Bridgewater St. deficit to nine, at 20-11. Griffin then recorded two of the final five Wellesley points to run her kill total to 13 and give the Blue the 25-14 set victory and 3-1 match victory.

The Bears return to action on Saturday, October 17, with an 11:00 AM conference match at Westfield State. The Blue will host the Wellesley Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Ocotber 16 and 17, starting with a 7:00 PM Friday matchup with Ithaca College.