WPI Wins Back and Forth Match over Blue Volleyball, 3-2

WORCESTER, Mass. – WPI saved a match point and won crucial fourth and fifth sets to defeat Wellesley College volleyball 3-2 (25-20, 17-25, 20-25, 25-19, 16-14) on Tuesday at Harrington Auditorium in a NEWMAC contest.

Sophomore Audrey Stroupe (Leesburg, Va.) had a match-high 17 kills for the Engineers (11-11 Overall, 4-5 NEWMAC) on a .424 hitting percentage. Senior Jia Yazon (South Windsor, Conn.) scooped up 21 digs with four service aces and grad student Catherine Reynolds (Concord, N.H.) added 30 assists.

Senior Kate Salembier (Sierra Madre, Calif.) and first years Kate Giang (Corte Madera, Calif.) and Evelyn Hill (Rocklin, Calif.) all had double-digit kills for the Blue (11-12 Overall, 2-8 NEWMAC) while Giang and classmate Madeline Zornek (Orlando, Fla.) (37 assists, 10 digs) each had double-doubles. In addition to Giang and Zornek, Hill, sophomore Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.), and first year Noelle Winn (San Francisco, Calif.) each had double-digit digs.

The Blue won the first five points of the first set and led by as much as seven before the Engineers slowly chipped away at the deficit. A five point run from WPI tied the set at 17-17 and the Engineers won eight of the final 11 points to complete the 25-20 comeback.

Wellesley once again led early in the second, up 12-4. Though WPI got the set back to five at 15-10, the Blue quickly won five more points and closed out a 25-17 set on a kill from Giang.

The third set once again saw an early Wellesley run, with six of the first seven points going the way of the Blue. WPI tied the set at 9-9 and both teams remained within striking distance of one another for most of the set. At 21-20, Wellesley launched a four point Blue barrage to capture the set, capped off by a kill from Salembier.

The two teams were knotted at 12-12 in the fourth set when WPI picked up steam, leading by four at 22-18 before finishing a 25-19 set with a service ace from Yazon.

Despite trailing 5-1 in the fifth, WPI came back to lead 8-6 by the time the teams switched sides. A key 5-0 run gave the Blue a 12-8 lead, and Wellesley had a match point at 14-13 that was saved by WPI on a kill from senior Olivia Deckers (Marlboro, Mass.). After capitalizing on an error, the Engineers sealed the match on its first match point, once again with a kill from Deckers.

Wellesley returns home to host Brandeis in a non-conference match at 6:00 PM on Thursday, November 2 and WPI wraps up its regular season on Saturday, November 4 with a 1:00 PM home match against Wheaton.