Wellesley Volleyball Wins Epic Over Clark, 3-2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Clark (11-14,3-5) | 18 | 25 | 25 | 18 | 12 | 2 |
|
Wellesley (7-15,0-8) | 25 | 22 | 17 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
WELLESLEY, Mass. - Wellesley College volleyball dug deep to comeback and win 3-2, (25-18, 22-25, 17-25, 25-18, 15-12) in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game on Tuesday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.
Five different players recorded double-digit kills for the Blue (8-15 Overall, 1-8 NEWMAC) with sophomores Mia Maxwell (Arlington, Mass.) and Jennifer Yu (Shanghai, China) each having 15. First year Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) had 19 digs while sophomore Mikayla Tansil (Warren, Mich.) provided 53 assists. Graduate student Marimo Oka (Fukuoka, Japan) recorded 19 digs for the Cougars (11-15 Overall, 3-6 NEWMAC) while senior Claudia Rivera (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) earned 11 kills.
Both teams traded points until 15-15 in the first set when the Blue went on a four-point run, punctuated by a service ace from Yu. The Cougars never got back within three as a kill by Maxwell and a service ace from junior Kate Salembier (Sierra Madre, Calif.) clinched a 25-18 set for Wellesley.
The second set was once again knotted up at 15-15 before the Cougars used kills from Rivera and junior Camille Flurry (Athens, Ga.) to widened their lead to 19-15. The Blue got the lead back to two on multiple occasions but ultimately an error gave Clark the 25-22 second set.
Clark controlled the flow of the third set leading 13-8 and later having a six-point run to make the score 22-13. While the Blue came back a bit at 23-17, a service ace from Flurry gave Clark a 25-17 set and a 2-1 lead.
The Blue came out strong in the fourth, expanding their lead to 13-5 on a kill from sophomore Rachel Xu (Beijing, China). Clark never got the lead back within five in the 25-18 set, which saw 16 Wellesley kills on a .300 hitting percentage.
After a 3-3 start to the fifth set, Clark capitalized on a kill from Flurry to lead 8-5 going into the switch. Wellesley found their momentum at the perfect time, winning seven straight points to lead 14-7 with three kills from both Xu and Yu. Clark own the next point, but a winner from Yu completed the comeback, solidifying a 15-12 set and the win for the Blue.
The Blue travel to Brandeis for non-conference game Thursday at 6:00 PM. The Cougars finish their regular season on the road Saturday at Wheaton at 1:00 PM.