WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball earned an impressive 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17) NEWMAC win over Clark University at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse on Saturday.
First year Else Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) finished the game one kill away from a triple-double, with nine kills, 23 assists and 18 digs. Junior Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) led all individuals with 19 digs for the Blue (8-6 Overall, 3-4 NEWMAC). Sophomores Evelyn Hill (Rocklin, Calif.) and Kate Giang (Corte Madera, Calif.) both recorded double-doubles in kills and digs. Classmate Noelle Winn (San Francisco, Calif.) supplied 22 assists.
Grad student Victoria Pastor (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) led the Cougars (11-8 Overall, 4-3 NEWMAC) with 17 kills. Senior Yvanna Torres (San Juan, Puerto Rico) had 23 assists and nine digs while Yumeng Liu (Beijing, China) put up 18 digs.
After a tight first half of the opening frame, the Blue went on a 5-0 run to take a 17-11 lead. Clark got the score back to three at 19-16, before Wellesley rattled off four unanswered points. A late comeback effort for the Cougars was in vain, as the Blue closed out a 25-21 stanza with a kill from E. Kunze-Hoeg.
Clark led for large portions of the second set. Though at 23-21 the Blue nearly got back to even, a late kill from Pastor proved vital for the Cougars to capture a 25-22 set at tied the match back up.
An early third set Wellesley run was matched by Clark, resulting in the Blue trailing 12-11. The Cougars brought its lead as high as five in a run that ended at 23-20. Wellesley answered the call with five consecutive points to claim the set and take a 2-1 lead.
Errors spelled trouble for Clark in the fourth, with the team committing 10. The Blue took advantage of 12 kills to finish off a 25-17 set and earn the win.
The Blue hit .150 with 56 kills while the Cougars had 44 kills on a .131 hitting percentage.
The Blue and the Cougars next compete at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, October 22. Wellesley plays at Springfield College while Clark matches up with Babson College.
