WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Visiting Coast Guard Academy handed the Wellesley College volleyball team their first sweep of the season, recording a 3-0 win over the Blue on Tuesday evening in the Dorothy Towne Field House. With the 25-22, 25-18, 25-14 victory, the Bears improve to 21-5 (7-1 NEWMAC) while running their current win streak to eight. Wellesley falls to 20-8, with a 6-2 mark in NEWMAC play.
Coast Guard jumped out to an early lead in set one, going up 6-1 after back-to-back kills from Keriann Mason. The Blue battled back with Traci Hamanaka at the service line, taking a 9-8 lead, but Coast Guard would even things out at 10-10. After several sideouts from each team, Coast Guard grabbed the momentum with a four-point service run from Sam Marmolejo and then sealed the set on a kill from Karen Matic.
Set two was close until Coast Guard's Elise Sako used a six point service run to give the Bears a 15-8 lead. Wellesley battled back to within four after a Caitlin Laughlin kill, but Coast Guard held on for a 25-18 victory.
The third and deciding set was all Coast Guard, as Wellesley was hampered by defensive woes. The Bears used long serving runs from Sako and Walker to build a 19-9 lead and then sealed the set and match victory with a Kelsey DePorto kill.
Coast Guard was led by DePorto who hammered 13 kills while hitting at a .522 clip. Matic and Sako split setting duties, recording totals of 19 and 12 assists, while Matic also added two blocks. Defensively for the Bears, Mason tallied 13 digs, while Marmalejo added 10.
Wellesley was led by 11 kills each from Laughlin and Sydney Carfagno. Isabel Custodio racked up 35 assists, while Kellyn O'Brady and Megan Mills each added two blocks. Hamanaka led the Blue's defense, tallying nine digs.
Both teams return to action on Saturday in their NEWMAC regular season finales. Coast Guard plays host to MIT at 1:00pm, while Wellesley travels to Clark, also at 1:00pm.
Volleyball Senior Day
Before the game, Wellesley honored it's lone member of the Class of 2012, Amanda Duritsch. A two-year captain for the Blue, Amanda has been instrumental in the success of Wellesley Volleyball during the last four years. During her tenure with Wellesley the team has racked up a considerable number of honors, including an overall record of 90-35, a NEWMAC Record of 28-7, a NEWMAC title in 2009 and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009.
In the midst of her best season to date, Amanda has already surpassed career highs in kills and blocks, leading the team in blocking. She was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Seven Sisters Championship, after recording five blocks and averaging 2.25 kills per set. In her career, Amanda has tallied 357 kills, 49 aces and 157 blocks.
