Blue Volleyball Earns Wins Over Maryville, Covenant at Emory Invitational

ATLANTA, Ga. – Wellesley College volleyball opened the day with a 3-2 (26-28, 25-21, 25-17, 18-25, 15-12) victory over Maryville College (Tenn.), before closing it out with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-18) win over Covenant College on Saturday at the Emory Invitational. The Blue finished the tournament with a 2-1 record and are now 7-4 overall. 

Wellesley 3, Maryville (Tenn.) 2

Wellesley sophomore Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) hit .477 in the match, powering down 24 kills to lead the Blue to a five-set win. 

Reece added eight digs, while first year Kennedy Ulfig (Saline, Mich.) added eight kills. Sophomore Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y) paced the Blue attack with 31 assists, chipping in with eight digs of her own. On defense, first year Meghan Shoop (Cypress, Calif.) had a team-high 14 digs, while sophomore Ashley Peng (San Diego, Calif.) and junior Alina Mota (Glendora, Calif.) finished in double-figures with 12 and 10, respectively.

Maryville senior Julia Vineyard (Morristown, Tenn.) hit .333, finishing with 15 kills to lead the Scots. On defense, junior Kaitlyn Flickinger (Knoxville, Tenn.) led all players with 19 digs, while classmate Nia Haller (Maryville, Tenn.) collected 14 more. First year Brianne Sidner (Marietta, Ga.) added 13 more kills and setter Saidee McDaniel (Hendersonville, Tenn.) dished out 39 assists, but it wasn't enough as the Blue outlasted the Scots to win the match.

Maryville opened with a 28-26 victory in the first set, but the Blue went on to take the second and third sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-17. The Scots then forced a deciding fifth game by winning the fourth set, 25-18. Wellesley broke a 9-9 tie late in the fifth set and went on to win, 15-12, as Reece put down the final point in the match on an assist from Li.

Wellesley 3, Covenant 1 

Ulfig paced the Blue offense with a season best 13 kills as Wellesley defeated Covenant in four sets to earn their second win of the day.

Ulfig finished the match with a double double, also adding 13 digs. Li racked up 33 more assists and 14 digs, while Reece added 11 kills for the Blue. Mota carried the Blue defense, registering a match and career-high 21 digs to go along with a match-high four aces. Peng also finished in double figures with 10 kills, coming up one dig shy of a double double with nine. 

Covenant's Ginny Moore (Fort Myers, Fla.) put down a match-high 19 kills on 56 attempts. Moore added 14 digs to finish with a double double. Moore was one of five Covenant players to finish in double figures on defense, as junior Jessica Seehorn (Dalton, Ga.), added 19 digs and first year Emily Moore (Fort Myers, Fla.), sophomore Hannah Stewart (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) and junior Schuyler Moore (Fort Myers, Fla.) added 15, 13 and 11, respectively. 

For the second time on the day, Wellesley dropped the opening set in the match, this time 25-19. However, that didn't slow down the Blue. Wellesley countered with a sweep of the next three sets, earning a 25-21 win in the second and a 25-18 win in the third, before taking the match, 3-1, with a 25-18 win in the fourth.

Wellesley returns to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday, September 20 at 7:00 PM. The Blue will host Wheaton in the team's first home match of the year.