Blue Volleyball Takes Down Wheaton In Home Opener, 3-1

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball celebrated its home opener with a 3-1 (25-19, 27-29, 25-11, 25-20) New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory over Wheaton College on Tuesday night at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. The win lifts the Blue to 8-4 on the season, and 2-0 in NEWMAC play. The Lyons drop to 7-7 and 0-2 in the conference. 

Sophomore Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) paced the Blue with 18 kills, 14 digs, and three blocks. Classmate Samantha Ostenso (Hopkins, Minn.) tallied a career-high ten kills while hitting .600 for the match. Sophomore Alex Kew (Winchester, Mass.), and first years Kennedy Ulfig (Saline, Mich.) and Meghan Shoop (Cypress, Calif.) chipped in with seven kills each. Ulfig also led all players with 15 digs, while Shoop tallied five aces. Sophomore setter Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) captained the offense, distributing 44 assists in the win.

For the Lyons, junior Allison Cox (Torrance, Calif) and sophomore Claire Cansler (Newhall, Calif.) led the attack with nine kills apiece. Sophomore Cathryn MacGregor (North Andover, Mass.) and first year Cameron Mercer (Park City, Utah) added four kills each, while junior captain Stephanie Martin (Centerville, Mass.) anchored the Wheaton defense with 12 digs. First year setter Becca Houghton (Emmaus, Penn.) dished out 19 assists in the setback.

The Blue hit .246 for the match while holding the Lyons to .046 across four sets. Wellesley was also strong defensively, out-digging Wheaton 61 to 38 while out-blocking the visitors seven to four. Wellesley opened with a 25-19 victory in the first set, running up a 22-15 lead before the Lyons ran off four points in-a-row to close the gap to 22-19. However, a Lyon service error followed by back-to-back kills from Ulfig and Kew gave the Blue the first set.

Wheaton tied the match in the second set, outlasting the Blue for a 29-27 victory. Wellesley seemed destined to take a 2-0 lead in the match, leading 23-20 late in the second frame. Trailing by three, Wheaton was the team that pulled within one point of taking the set, scoring four unanswered points to take a 24-23 edge. The Blue tied the match on a kill from Kew, as the sides exchanged point until the score hit 27-all. Back-to-back miscues from the Blue then gave the Lyons the 29-27 win.

Wellesley responded in the third set, turning in the team's most complete effort of the night to take a commanding 25-11 victory. Wellesley hit .500 in the third game, holding the Lyons to just eight kills to regain control of the match. The Blue continued to roll in the fourth game, hitting .412 as they took the match with a 25-20 victory. Wellesley broke open the fourth set with an 8-0 run with Shoop at the service line, taking a 21-10 lead before eventually closing out the match.

Both squads return to action on Thursday, September 22, at 7:00 PM. Wellesley will travel to take on cross-town rival Babson in a key NEWMAC match-up at 7:00 PM, while Wheaton will hosts Rhode Island College in non-conference action.