Wellesley Volleyball Bounces Back with a Win over New England College, 3-0

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Sophomore Mikayla Tansil (Warren, Mich.) had 42 assists for Wellesley College volleyball as the Blue won 3-0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-22) over New England College on Thursday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

Junior Kate Salembier (Sierra Madre, Calif.) led the game with 13 kills for the Blue (5-8) while first year Kennedy Mayo (Long Branch, N.J.) and sophomore Jennifer Yu (Shanghai, China) had 11 and nine kills respectively. Junior Arianna Blaize Lamas (Honolulu, Hawaii) and first year Aurora Gutierrez-Macias (El Paso, Texas) each had 11 assists for the Pilgrims (5-11) in their setback.

The Pilgrims raced out to an 8-2 lead to begin the match before Wellesey settled in. The Blue eventually tied the set at 16-16 on a service ace from Salembier. After trading points, junior Tatiana Sampson (Kailua, Hawaii) gave NEC a 25-24 lead with a kill. The Blue won three straight points, including two service aces from first year Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.), to win a 27-25 set.

Wellesley opened the second set with a 7-3 lead backed by two kills from sophomore Mia Maxwell (Arlington, Mass.). The Pilgrims got as close as 15-13 before Wellesley pulled away with kills from Mayo and Yu. Salembier and sophomore Rachel Xu (Beijing, China) had kills late in the set as Wellesley won 25-20.

The third set was 12-12 before kills from Xu, Mayo, and Yu gave Wellesley a 17-13 lead. NEC cut the lead to one at 23-22 before Maxwell and Salembier sealed the match for Wellesley with back-to-back kills.

The Blue travel to Mount Holyoke Saturday for a NEWMAC game at 12 PM. The Pilgrims host Lesley in a NECC match at 12 PM.