Blue Volleyball Celebrates Senior Day With Sweep of Geneseo, Plymouth St.

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College volleyball earned 3-0 sweeps in back-to-back matches in a non-conference tri-match on Saturday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. The Blue downed Geneseo, 3-0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-22) in the first match of the day and celebrated Senior Day with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-15, 25-15) win over Plymouth St. in the third match. In Saturday's second match, Geneseo defeated Plymouth St., 3-1 (28-26, 18-25, 25-16, 25-20).

Wellesley is now 15-3 overall and 10-0 at home in 2018. With the split, Geneseo improves to 17-7, while Plymouth St. slides to 8-16 following the day's action. 

Wellesley 3, Geneseo 0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-22)

Sophomore Lauren Gedney (Huntersville, N.C.) put down a match-high 12 kills to lead the Blue to a 3-0 victory over the Knights in the first match. 

Gedney hit .333 on 37 attempts, while senior setter Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) dished out 28 assists to six different Blue attackers. Junior Meghan Shoop (Cypress, Calif.) had a team-high 13 digs and six of Wellesley's nine service aces in the match.

Junior Abby May (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) and first year Maddie McLaughlin (East Aurora, N.Y.) with six kills apiece. Junior Sam Mendelsohn (Williamsville, N.Y.) totaled a match-high 17 digs, while sophomore Alexandra Frank (Syracuse, N.Y.) added 14. Senior setter Emily Ast (Lancaster, N.Y.) dished out a team-high 18 assists. 

Wellesley earned a narrow 25-22 win in the opening set before racing to a 25-11 victory in the second game. Wellesley opened the second set on a 9-1 run that included five aces from Shoop. The Blue avoided a late surge for the Knights in the third set, breaking a 22-22 tie with three straight points to earn another 25-22 win.  

Geneseo 3, Plymouth St. 1 (28-26, 18-25, 25-16, 25-20) 

The Knights rebounded in the second match of the day, defeating Plymouth St., 3-1, behind a combined 23 kills from May and sophomore Bridget Lougen (Syracuse, N.Y.).

May had 12 kills on 37 attempts and Lougen totaled 11 in the victory. First year Morgan Michalski (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) totaled 32 assists and nine digs for Geneseo, who also got a match-best 18 digs from first year Mary Saldino (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) and 16 digs from Frank. 

Junior Lex Bowers (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) had a match-high 14 kills in the setback for Plymouth St.. Four players finished in double figures on defense for the Panthers, led by first year Alexa Price (Moultonborough, N.H.) with 18 digs and junior Alisha Flanagan (Milton, N.H.) with 17. 

Geneseo found the late edge in a back-and-forth opening set, with Kat Vernon (Rochester, N.Y.) and May putting down the final two kills in a 28-26 victory. Plymouth St. rallied for a 25-18 win in the second set to even the match at 1-1, but back-to-back set victories for the Knights, 25-16 and 25-20, helped Geneseo earn the 3-1 final.

Wellesley 3, Plymouth 0 (25-10, 25-15, 25-15)  

Senior Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) hit .680 with 18 kills as the Blue cruised past Plymouth St. in the day's final match.

Li racked-up 32 assists, orchestrating a Wellesley attack that hit .298 with just 12 errors in the match. First year Nicole Doerges (San Marino, Calif.) added nine kills and senior Samantha Hoang (Elk Grove, Calif.) finished with 15 digs. Shoop added 12 more kills and three more aces in the nightcap. 

Senior Ari Linden (Lena, Ill.) had six kills to lead Plymouth St.. Bowers finished with 11 digs to lead the Panthers and Flanagan added 10 digs. Senior setter Kennedy Mang (Livonia, Mich.) finished with 11 assists.

Hoang tallied three aces to key a 4-0 Wellesley run to start the first set. The Blue went on to take a 17-3 lead en route to a 25-10 final in the opener. Wellesley followed with 25-15 wins in both the second and third set to complete the sweep. 

Wellesley returns to action and New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday with a key match at 7:00 PM at MIT.