Volleyball Downs Williams, Middlebury at New England Challenge

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball held on for a 3-2 (28-26, 26-24, 17-25, 16-25, 15-11) victory versus Williams College before capturing a 3-1 (25-22, 17-25, 25-19, 25-23) win over Middlebury College on Saturday at the inaugural New England Challenge, hosted by MIT. The Blue are now 14-12 overall after going 2-1 and taking third place at the event.

The tournament featured five regionally-ranked women's volleyball teams. Nationally-ranked No. 23 MIT emerged with the tournament title on Saturday. Standing No. 1 in the region, the Engineers were joined by No. 3 Tufts University, No. 6 Williams College, No. 7 Middlebury College, No. 10 Babson College, and the Blue.

Wellesley 3, Williams 2

Junior Brooke Fieldman (Greenwood Village, Colo.) put together a double-double of 11 kills and 15 digs and first year Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) led all players with 20 kills, also adding five digs and a match-high seven total blocks, in an opening match victory over Williams.

First year Elise Griffin (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) added 12 kills on 26 attempts, while classmate Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) cranked out 42 assists.  On defense, first year Samantha Hoang (Elk Grove, Calif.) took match-high honors with 18 digs. Sophomore Katie Yan (Cohoes, N.Y.) also keyed the Blue backline with 15 digs. 

Eleven different players recorded a kill for Williams, led by eight kills each from senior Catherine Egan (New York, N.Y.), sophomore Shelby Fisher (Tacoma, Wash.) and first year Mia Weinland (Tokyo, Japan). Senior setter Ryan Farely (La Jolla, Calif.) also added five kills to go along with 41 assists. The trio of Catie Benell (Pacific Palisades, Calif.), Morgan Richman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Tori Jasuta (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) paced the Williams defense with 15, 13 and 11 digs, respectively.

Wellesley extended beyond 25 points to win both the first and second set, downing the Ephs 28-26 in the opener and 26-24 in the second frame. Williams came to life in the next two games, roaring back to tie the match at 2-2 on the heels of a 25-17 third set win and a 25-16 fourth set victory. Wellesley was the first team to eight in the final set, holding off Williams before securing the 15-11 triumph, and the 3-2 match win, on a final kill from Reece.

Wellesley 3, Middlebury 1

Reece turned in her second 20-kill performance in the afternoon, leading Wellesley to a 3-1 defeat of Middlebury. Reece finished the tournament with 54 kills in three matches to take home All-Tournament team honors.

For the second straight contest, Griffin also finished in double-figures with 10 kills, as the Blue got 30 of their 52 kills in the match from their middle hitters. Li followed her 43 assist performance against the Ephs with a 41 assist effort, while Hoang once again led the defense with a team-high 17 digs. Junior Maddie Koh (Seattle, Wash.) also added 12 digs for Wellesley.

Middlebury junior Hannah Blackburn (Chapel Hill, N.C.) led all players with 18 digs in the match. Blackburn also racked up 30 assists to pace a Middlebury attack that got 14 kills from Isabel Sessions (Chicago, Ill.) and 10 kills from Eliana Schafer. Sophomore Emily Kolodka (Verona, N.J.) chipped in with 14 digs for the Panthers.

The Blue opened with a 25-22 win in the first set before Middlebury slowed their momentum with a 25-17 win in the second frame. An early 2-0 Middlebury lead in the third set quickly disappeared as Wellesley scored 13 of the next 15 points to take a 13-4 edge en route to a 25-19 win. The Blue then completed the 3-1 victory by taking a hard fought 25-23 win in a back-and-forth final game.

Wellesley Volleyball returns to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) competition on Tuesday night, Ocotber 27, at 7:00 PM when they host Coast Guard.

All-Tournament Team

Ryan Farley, Williams

Becca Raffel, Middlebury

Yasmine Reece, Wellesley

Alicia Wilde, Babson

Liz Sullivan, Babson

Alli Davanzo, MIT

Tournament MVP: Tori Wuthrich, MIT

Final Standings

1. MIT (3-0)

2. Babson (2-1; 6-5 sets won-lost)

3. Wellesley (2-1; 7-6 sets won-lost)

4. Tufts (1-2; 6-7 sets won-lost)

5. Middlebury (1-2; 4-6 sets won-lost)

6. Williams (0-3)

Friday, Oct. 23

#23 MIT def. Middlebury, 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-22)
Babson def. Williams, 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22)
Tufts def. Wellesley, 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 25-13)

#23 MIT def. Tufts, 3-2 (26-24, 16-25, 23-25, 25-16, 16-14)
Middlebury def. Babson, 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-22)
Wellesley def. Williams, 3-2 (28-26, 26-24, 17-25, 16-25, 15-11)
#23 MIT def. Williams, 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 26-28, 24-26, 15-12)
Babson def. Tufts, 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20)
Wellesley def. Middlebury, 3-1 (25-22, 17-25, 25-19, 25-23)