Wellesley Volleyball Rolls to 3-0 Sweep of Western New England

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Junior Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and first year Lauren Gedney (Huntersville, N.C.) combined for 20 kills to lead Wellesley College volleyball to a 3-0 (25-9, 25-21, 25-20) non-conference victory over Western New England University on Thursday night at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. 

The Blue are now 9-3 on the season and have won seven matches in-a-row. WNE drops to an even 8-8 on the year. 

Reece tallied nine kills on a match-high .615 attack percentage, while Gedney amassed 11 kills and hit .455. As a squad, the Blue hit .253 with first years Darina Postupaka (Tinley Park, Ill.) and Nikki Jensen (Castro Valley, Calif.) each chipping in with five kills. Junior Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) posted a double-double with 24 assists and 12 digs, while classmate Samantha Hoang (Elk Gorve, Calif.) posted 10 digs. Wellesley also totaled eight aces in the match, half of which came from first year Becca Aristotelidis (San Antonio, Texas).

Senior Sam Heffer (Bethpage, N.Y.) finished with a team-high 10 kills for the Golden Bears, while sophomore Cassandra Holmes (Ellington, Conn.) added five. In the back row, senior Brianna Roath (Jackson, N.J.) matched game-high honors with 12 digs. Sophomore setter Caitlyn Sibiskie (Rockfall, Conn) tallied 23 assists and added eight digs, while senior Emmaline Chiodini (St. Louis, Mo.) also had eight digs.

With the teams tied 3-3 in the opening set, the Blue score eight of the next nine points in the game to take a comfortable 11-4 lead. Wellesley eventually stretched the advantage, with Aristotelidis totaling three aces as part of a run that turned a 13-8 Blue lead into a 21-8 advantage. Wellesley then closed out the set with four-straight points, 25-9.

The Blue jumped out to a 13-6 lead in game two, but UNE came charging back, closing the deficit to 19-18 late in the set. However, Wellesley squashed the threat, scoring six of the next nine points to take a narrow 25-21 win. The Blue followed by opening the third set on a 7-0 run. Wellesley never trailed in the final game, taking leads of 18-10 and 21-14 before closing out the match with a 25-20 victory. 

The Blue will host Springfield in a key New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) match on Saturday, September 30, at 1:00 PM. WNE will also host on Saturday, when they welcome Eastern Connecticut State at 11:00 AM.