Blue Volleyball Tops Smith, 3-0

WELLESLEY, Mass. — Wellesley College volleyball hit .348 as a team in both the first and second sets, defeating Smith College 3-0 (25-11, 25-9, 25-20) in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday evening at the Keohane Sports Center. 

Caitlin Laughlin finished with a match-high seven kills for the Blue while Brooke Fieldman, Adiya King, Eryn Halvey and Lindsey Menichella all recorded four kills to help Wellesley improve to 14-7 (4-4 NEWMAC). Fieldman added a team-high 8 digs also tying for match-high honors in service aces as both she and Taylor Jais finished the match with six apiece. Finally, sophomore setter Maddie Koh dished out 27 assists for the Blue. 

Dayra Diaz Marquez and Lauren Shaffer tallied four kills each for the Pioneers, who fall to 6-16 (1-7 NEWMAC). Xela Miller and Jenna Rubin chipped in two kills apiece. Rubin also recorded nine digs, while Julie Voorhes and Lauren Shaffer each had seven digs. Diaz Marquez and Voorhees combined for 11 assists in the loss.

Smith took an early 2-0 lead in the first game but after the Blue rallied to tie the score at 2-all, Wellesley led for the remainder of the set. With Wellesley leading 10-8, Jais rattled off three consecutive aces to push the Blue advantage to 13-8. Wellesley would lead by at least five points for the remainder of the set, eventually pushing their advantage to 20-10 before taking a 25-1 victory.  

In set two, Wellesley continued to roll. With a 13-5 advantage following the first Smith timeout, Jais picked up two more aces while Halvey and Courteny Lang each recorded a kill to help Wellesley grow its lead to 17-6 and force a second timeout from the Pioneers. However, the second timeout failed to slow Wellesley's momentum as the Blue scored eight of the final eleven points in the set, capped by a kill from Menichella, to take a 25-9 victory.

Despite trailing 11-4 early-on in the third set, Smith continued to fight and eventually closed the gap to 13-12. However, the Pioneers were still unable to overtake the Blue at any time in the game. Wellesley scored the next three points on a kill by Halvey, an ace from Jais and a kill by Fieldman to increase their advantage to 16-13. Smith would again close the gap to just one, at both 17-16 and 18-17, but a pair of Pioneer errors and a pair of kills from Menichella helped the Blue take a 22-18 lead. A pair of aces from Koh and Carfagno on either side of a Smith error then helped the Blue close out the 25-20 set victory and 3-0 match victory.

Both squads return to action at this weekend's Hall of Fame Tournament. Smith will open the tournament on Friday, October 24, when they host Wesleyan University at 5pm. Wellesley also opens at 5pm, playing at host Amherst College.