Wellesley Volleyball Opens NEWMAC Play by Sweeping Emerson

BOSTON, Mass. -- The Wellesley College volleyball team opened the 2014 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) season with a 3-0 sweep on the road at Emerson College on Tuesday. The win lifts the Blue to 7-2 overall, while Emerson moves to 6-5.

Wellesley suffered from hitting woes, recording just a .126% average, but managed to win two close sets en route to the 3-0 victory. The Blue wrapped up the sweep using set scores of 28-26, 25-15, and 25-22.

Wellesley had its best hitting performance in set one (.280), but found itself behind 10-8 early on. A pair of kills from Brooke Fieldman sparked a Wellesley run, making it 13-12 Blue, but Emerson battled back to re-gain the lead at 19-16. The Lions appeared in the drivers set, going up 24-22 after three straight Wellesley attack errors, but the Blue used two Courtney Lang kills and several Emerson errors to escape with a 28-26 set win.

Neither team hit well in the second set, but Wellesley was able to nab a 25-15 win. The Blue opened with an 11-5 edge, which included a pair of aces from Alina Mota, before Emerson stormed back with five straight points to make it 11-10. Wellesley then surged once again, going on an 14-5 run to wrap up the set victory.

Set three was as close as the first, with Wellesley opening an early 6-2 lead on a pair of kills from Sydney Carfagno. Emerson battled back to tie the score at 6-6, and 7-7, but couldn't gain control of the match. Wellesley was able to distance itself from the Lions on a long serving run from Taylor Jais that made it 17-11 Blue, but Emerson wouldn't go away. The Lions battled back with solid hitting from  Brittany Schoellkopf, tying the match at 19-19, 20-20, and 21-21. Wellesley went ahead 23-21 on two Fieldman kills before Emerson's Annie Hall made it 23-22. The Blue then finished off the set with a Carfagno kill and an Emerson attack error to complete the sweep.

Wellesley's Carfagno led all players with 11 kills, while Fieldman and Lang added seven and six each. Lindsey Menichella hit .625 with five kills and no errors, while Maddie Koh dished out 26 assists. Jais recorded a match-high of 23 digs, while Lang (12) and (11) also reached double figures. Caitlin Laughlin led the Blue at the net with four blocks, while Lang added three in the win.

For Emerson, Amanda Linzmeyer recorded eight kills, while Hall added seven and Schoellkopf contributed six. Sam Harton topped the Lions with 21 digs, while Linzmeyer added 10. Elaine Nichols ran the Emerson offense with 24 assists, while Guili Frendak had seven digs and a pair of aces in the match.

Wellesley returns to action on Saturday, traveling to Roger Williams for an 11:00am match. Emerson next plays on Thursday, heading to Waltham to take on Brandeis at 7:00pm.