Wellesley Volleyball Cruises Past Southern Maine, 3-0

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball got 17 kills from first year Lauren Gedney (Huntersville, N.C.) to cruise to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-15) sweep of the University of Southern Maine in non-conference play on Thursday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

The Blue are now 18-5 overall, while Southern Maine slides to 19-8 on the year.

Gedney finished with 17 kills, her most since a 21 kill output at UMass Boston earlier this month.  Junior setter Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) totaled 36 assists to pace the Blue attack, while sophomore Meghan Shoop (Cypress, Calif.) and junior Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) each tallied five digs. Reece also had seven kills on 11 attempts for the Blue.

Senior Jess Williamson (Goffstown, N.H.) had 10 kills on a team-high 31 assists for the Huskies. Kylee Austin (Saco, Maine) chipped in with seven kills, while senior libero Mariah Garcia (Brighton, Colo.) had 10 digs to lead Southern Maine on defense. Junior setter Nicole Schmitz (St. Paul, Minn.) finished with 24 assists in the setback.

Wellesley took a 10-5 lead on ace from first year Becca Aristotelidis (San Antonio, Texas) early in the first set. The Blue extended the advantage to 16-9, but five-straight points from the Huskies cut the visitor's deficit to two, at 16-14. Southern Maine continued to hang around late in the game but couldn't rally past the Blue, as a 20-18 lead turned into a 23-18 advantage, before Wellesley eventually ended the set, 25-20, on a kill from Gedney.

Southern Maine broke a 10-10 tie midway through set two, using a 7-1 run to take a 17-11 advantage. The Huskies took a six-point lead only to see the Blue rally back with an 8-1 run of their own to take a 19-18 lead. The Huskies grabbed a 21-20 lead on a kill from senior Mo Raymond (Sanbornton, N.H.) but the Blue scored five of the final seven points in the set, capped by a kill from junior Samantha Ostenso (Hopkins, Minn.) to take a 25-23 win.  

The Blue carried the momentum into the final game, never trailing en route to a 25-15 victory. Wellesley opened the set on a 10-2 run, later extending the lead to 20-10 on a block from first year Nikki Jensen (Castro Valley, Calif.) and Reece. Ostenso added the final kill again to secure the 3-0 sweep.

Wellesley will close out the regular season with a non-conference tri-match on Saturday, October 28, at Framingham St. Wellesley will play Westfield St. at 1:00 PM and the host Rams at 3:00 PM. Southern Maine heads home to host a tri-match on Saturday, where they will host Eastern Conn. St. and Maine-Presque Isle.