Blue Volleyball Handles Smith in Five Sets

WELLESLEY, Mass. --  Senior Nicole Doerges (San Marino, Calif.) recorded 30 kills and a .309 kill percentage in a 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 21-25, 25-18, 15-11) win over Smith College on Tuesday night inside Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

With the victory, the Blue win its fourth game out of five and improve to 3-5 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play and 6-8 overall. Smith slips to 18-7 overall and stand at .500 in the NEWMAC at 4-4. 

Doerges posted 30 kills for the second time this season and had a .309 kill percentage. Setter Izzy Seebold (Concord, N.C.) was in control all night with 45 assists, 10 service aces, five digs, and three block assists. Junior TylerBell Smith posted double-digit kills (11) for the second time this year and also had a solo block. Claire Bialek (Brookline, Mass.) was once again solid defensively for the Blue, recording a match-high 23 digs. First year Rachel Xu (Beijing, China) filled the stat sheet with four kills and 10 digs. Fellow first year Mia Maxwell (Arlington, Mass.) had some clutch kills late in the match, finishing with three overall.

On the other side of the net, Abby Sweeney (Spring, Texas) led the Pioneers with 12 kills and six block assists. Just behind her was Fiona Hegarty (Tustin, Calif) with 11 kills on a .455 kill percentage. Libero Gabby Beckman (Aurora, Colo.) had 16 digs and setter Nathalie Pak (Lexington, Mass.) recorded 33 assists. As a team, the Pioneers had 19 total blocks compared to just nine for Wellesley. 

Midway through the opening set, the Blue sparked a 7-3 run, ending with a service ace from Seebold and took a 18-12 lead. The Pioneers would storm back, ultimately bringing the set to a score of 23-21 and forcing Wellesley to call timeout. Smith would score the next two points to tie the set, but a service error and another service ace by Seebold gave the Blue a 25-23 win. The second set would begin very back and forth, with a service ace by Tiffany Shou (San Jose, Calif.) notting everything up at 17-17. Down 23-21 in the set, Smith grinded with a kill by Sarah Dankovich (El Paso, Texas) and a few attack errors on the Wellesley side to win set two 26-24.

Smith came out firing in the third set, jumping ahead 10-5 off a service ace by Dankovich. Wellesley looked to get back in the set, but couldn't find the groove until late after a 5-0 run to cut the lead to two. However, it was a case of too little too late, as Olivia Smith (Mill Valley, Calif.) ended set three with a kill, and Smith needed one more set to win the overall match. The Blue would carry over the late momentum from the previous set, bursting out to an 11-2 lead. Doerges recorded three kills during the run. The Pioneers could never recover from the early deficit and the Blue went on to take set four by a score of 25-18. For the first time in the 2021-22 season, Wellesley was headed to a fifth set.

The fifth and final set began with a point for Smith, followed by three consecutive kills for Doerges. The set would be tied at 10-10, when two kills by Doerges and a service ace by Seebold gave Wellesley a three-point lead. After a timeout, Smith scored a point but the game was put away by a kill from Maxwell and the Blue stood victorious.

Wellesley will head out of conference for a match versus Mass.-Dartmouth on Thursday, October 21, at 7:00 PM. Smith will take on Westfield State University on Friday, October 22, at 6:00 PM.