WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball suffered its first loss of the season with a 3-0 defeat to Regis College (25-21, 25-19, 25-23) on Tuesday night at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.
Sophomore Kate Giang (Corte Madera, Calif.) recorded double figure kills for the fourth time to begin the season with a match best 18. First-year Else Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) finished with four kills, 22 assists and 13 digs. Junior Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) had a team best 14 digs for the Blue (3-1). Sophomore Evelyn Hill (Rocklin, Calif.) added eight kills and nine digs.
The start of the match featured five ties, before Regis (6-3) took a 13-8 lead that forced a Wellesley timeout. The Blue chipped away and erased a six-point deficit to eventually pull even at 18-18. The Pride scored the next three points and went on to take the set 25-21. Sophomore Grace Fabiano (Greenland, N.H.) had four kills to lead Regis, while senior Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.) had a set best seven digs. Giang led Wellesley with five kills.
Wellesley had an early 4-1 lead before the score was tied at 5-5. The Blue put the next four points on the board and later led 12-7 after three consecutive kills by Else Kunze-Hoeg. The Pride rallied and took their first lead of the set at 17-16, which they would not relinquish on the way to a 25-19 victory. The Blue had a 14-6 advantage in kills in the set, but also a 13-2 margin in attack errors.
The third set was tied 9-9 when Wellesley went on an 8-0 run for a 17-9 lead. Regis answered with a 6-1 spurt to cut the deficit to 18-15. Wellesley responded with a 3-1 run on three kills by Giang for a 21-16 advantage. The visitors battled all the way back to take a 23-22 lead, their first of the set. Regis put the match away by scoring two of the next three points for the 25-23 win.
Junior Ayla Albers (San Diego, Calif.) paced the Pride with 10 kills and three aces. Fabiano finished with eight kills, while Tenorio picked up a match-best 18 digs.
Next up, Wellesley wraps up its five-game homestand against Fisher College on Saturday, September 14 at 2:00 PM as part of #EarnTheW Day. Regis plays on the road this Saturday at 11:00 AM against Norwich.
