NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – No. 6 seed Wellesley College volleyball was edged by No. 3 seed Smith College, 3-1, in a NEWMAC Championship Quarterfinal match at Ainsworth Gym on Tuesday night. The Pioneers won by scores of 25-19, 25-20, 17-25 and 25-22.

Wellesley was led by sophomore Kate Giang's (Corte Madera, Calif.) 15 kills, eight digs and three aces. First-year Else Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) hit .304 and finished with 11 kills, 18 assists and eight digs. Sophomore Evelyn Hill (Rocklin, Calif.) added eight kills. Junior Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) led all players with 21 digs. 

Smith junior Abby Hunt (Mandeville, La.) tallied 16 kills, 13 digs and five aces. Sophomore Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, Calif.) contributed 13 kills, while Taylor Gwynne (Chapel Hill, N.C.) recorded 34 assists and 11 digs. 

The early stages of the opening set went back-and-forth and featured seven ties. Smith later led 13-9 before Wellesley pulled within a pair at 18-16 after an Else Kunze-Hoeg kill. That would be as close as the Blue would get as the home team hit .444 with 14 kills on the way to the 25-19 win. Hunt posted six kills on .750 hitting with seven digs to lead Smith in the set. Else Kunze-Hoeg had four kills to lead Wellesley.  

Wellesley raced out to a 5-2 lead in the second, but Smith rebounded with a 7-2 run to force a timeout at 9-7 in favor of the Pioneers. The Blue fell behind 19-14 but cut the deficit to a pair at 21-19. Smith scored four of the next five points, however, for the 25-20 victory and 2-0 lead in the match. Giang led all players with five kills in the frame. 

The Blue started strong once again in the third. A Logan Wilson (Woodside, Calif.) kill gave the visitors a 7-3 lead and they never looked back, leading comfortably for most of the remainder of the frame. Else Kunze-Hoeg sealed the 25-17 win with a kill. Wellesley registered 12 kills and no errors to hit .522 in the set. 

The fourth set featured 10 ties. An Evelyn Hill kill put Wellesley on top 21-20, but Hunt answered with a kill to knot the score at 21-21. Smith then went on a 4-1 spurt to clinch the 25-22 win and the match 3-1. 

The Pioneers (28-6) advance to the semifinals where they will take on No. 2 seed Springfield (22-6) on Saturday, November 16 at MIT. Wellesley ends its season with a 13-9 record.