WORCESTER, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball swept WPI, 3-0, in a NEWMAC match on Tuesday at Harrington Auditorium. The Blue won by scores of 25-15, 25-21 and 25-17. 

Senior Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) tied a career-high with 19 kills on .406 hitting for Wellesley (9-9 Overall, 4-4 NEWMAC). Kunze-Hoeg also tallied a match best 21 digs. Junior Evie Hill (Rocklin, Calif.) also reached double digits with 10 kills on .391 hitting to go with nine digs and three aces. Sophomore Else Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) registered 37 assists, seven digs, and a couple of blocks. Wellesley hit .358 for the match. 

First-year Amelia Lynch (Charlottesville, Va.) led the Engineers (9-11 Overall, 2-6 NEWMAC) with nine kills. Sophomore Anastasia Kelnik (Fair Lawn, N.J.) was next with seven kills, while first-year Olivia Hutchinson (Erie, Pa.) chipped in with six kills and three blocks. First-year Maura Oslosky (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led WPI with seven digs.  

The Blue rolled to a 25-15 first set victory behind 19 kills on .459 hitting. Kaija Kunze-Hoeg hit .800 in the set with eight kills. Wellesley got off to a hot start by taking a 9-2 lead after a kill by sophomore Sarah Jin (San Jose, Calif.). Wellesley took its largest lead of the set at 19-7, but WPI rallied to score the next five points. Back-to-back kills by Jin stopped the run for the Blue. The teams traded the next few points before Kaija Kunze-Hoeg ended things for the 10-point win. 

The second set was closely played throughout. With the score tied 7-7, the Blue received three straight kills by Kaija Kunze-Hoeg to go in front by three. Although Wellesley was able to hold on to an advantage for the remainder of the set, the Engineers stayed within reach, never trailing by more than four. A kill by Hill put Wellesley on top 24-21 and then for the second straight set, Kaija Kunze-Hoeg recorded the set-clinching kill. The Blue had another efficient attack at the net by hitting .429 with 18 kills. 

The early stages of the third set were tight once again before Wellesley used a 4-0 run to take an 11-6 lead and never looked back. A Kaija Kunze-Hoeg kill later put the Blue on top by six (15-9), which would be as close as the Engineers would get for the rest of the set. Wellesley went on to clinch the sweep with a 25-17 score in the third.  

The Blue will return to Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse for a 7:00 PM non-conference match with Bowdoin College on Friday, October 24. The Engineers travel to University of Southern Maine for a tri-match with the Huskies and Western Connecticut State University on Saturday, October 25.