(Frank Poulin)
(Frank Poulin)

WPI Overcomes Wellesley Volleyball on Senior Day, 3-1

WELLESLEY, Mass. - Wellesley College volleyball fell 3-1, (25-20, 25-18, 17-25, 25-22), to WPI in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game to conclude their season on Saturday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

Prior to the game Wellesley celebrated the contributions of senior TylerBell Smith (Frisco, Texas).

Senior Maddie Sanborn (Londonderry, N.H.) led the Engineers (15-9 Overall, 4-6 NEWMAC) with 14 kills and three athletes had double-digits digs for WPI. Junior Kate Salembier (Sierra Madre, Calif.) had 10 kills and 12 digs for the Blue (8-17 Overall, 1-9 NEWMAC) while first year Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) had her 21st game with at least 10 digs for Wellesley.

After the first set was even at 17-17, the Engineers utilized kills from first year Fiona Gillis (Bedford, N.H.) and senior Catherine Reynolds (Concord, N.H.) late to win eight of the final 11 points in a 25-20 set.

The Engineers raced out to an 10-3 lead in the second, before the Blue regained their footing, cutting the lead to two at 14-12 on a lil by sophomore Mia Maxwell (Arlington, Mass.). Gillis and Sanborn kills pushed WPI's lead to seven at 21-14, and the Engineers finished a 25-18 set on a kill by sophomore Emily Hudson (Melrose, Mass.).

Back to back service aces from Maxwell gave the Blue a 17-13 lead in the third set. After the Engineers scored a point, the Blue won seven of the next eight points with big kills from sophomore Jennifer Yu (Shanghai, China) and two service aces from classmate Rachel Xu (Beijing, China). A service error ultimately gave Wellesley a 25-17 set.

WPI jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the fourth, with Sanborn picking up a pair of kills. The Blue surged back to cut the led to one at 11-10, and later took the lead at 16-15 on a service ace from Salembier. At 20-20 the Engineers got a kill from Sanborn and never gave back the lead, with a kill from Reynolds closing out the 25-22 set, and giving WPI a 3-1 win.