WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball swept its non-conference match 3-0 versus New England College (9-14 Overall) at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse on Saturday. The Blue (9-8 Overall) finished with scores of 25-21, 25-17 and 25-20.

Prior to the game Wellesley acknowledged a pair of seniors for their contributions to the Blue. The seniors honored were Mikayla Tansil (Warren, Mich.) and Rachel Xu (Beijing, China).

First year Else Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) was one kill away from a triple-double with nine kills, 20 assists and 17 digs for Wellesley. Sophomore Kate Giang (Corte Madera, Calif.) led all student-athletes with 16 kills while first year Sarah Jin added nine kills with a .500 hitting percentage. Junior Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) supplied 17 digs and Tansil served up four aces.

Junior Kristina Cardello (Peabody, Mass.) paced the Pilgrims with 11 digs. Grad student Tatiana Sampson (Kailua, Hawaii) provided five kills and a pair of blocks.

The early portion of the first set was even. After trailing 20-18, the Bleu rattled off five straight points and closed out the 25-21. Wellesley put up 18 kills and a .224 hitting percentage.

The second frame told a similar tale. At 14-13, the Blue took eight of 10 points to grab a 23-15 lead. A 19th kill of the set from sophomore Caroline Meyer (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished the 25-17 stanza to put Wellesley up 2-0. 

The Pilgrims led 9-7 in the third set before a 10-0 Wellesley run halted the momentum. The Blue finished the final set with 17 kills and had a .264 hitting percentage for the match. 

Wellesley won the kills battle 54-20 and scored eight aces.

Wellesley continues its homestand on Tuesday, October 29 at 7:00 PM against Emerson College. NEC hosts Norwich University at 6:00 PM that same day.