WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball outlasted Bowdoin College in a non-conference match, 3-2, to kick off Friends and Family Weekend on Friday night at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. The Blue won by scores of 29-27, 23-25, 25-27, 25-23 and 15-10.
The last five meetings between these two teams have gone five sets.
Wellesley (10-9) senior
Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) led all players with a career-high 22 kills to go with 21 digs and four aces. Junior
Evie Hill (Rocklin, Calif.) was next with 14 kills. Sophomore
Else Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) finished with 42 assists and 21 digs. First-year
Natalie Dabrowski (Chicago, Ill.) was the third Blue player in double figures by tying a season-high with 11 kills. Junior
Caroline Meyer (Indianapolis, Ind.) came away with a career-high 26 digs.
First-year Zoe Ryu (Washington, D.C.) led the Polar Bears (12-9) with 21 kills to go with 19 digs. Sophomore Alison Smith (Winnetka, Ill.) hit .378 to finish with 20 kills. Junior Cameron Shelly (Austin, Texas) registered 44 assists and 24 digs. Junior Anna Yeh (Monterey, Calif.) picked up a match-high 37 digs.
The first set was tied several times in the early stages, including at 9-9, before Wellesley scored the next four points for a 13-9 advantage. The Blue held a lead until Bowdoin charged back with a 5-0 run, which featured a couple of kills by senior Mina Mittler (Foster City, Calif.), to go in front 18-16. With the score tied for the eighth time of the frame at 19-19, Bowdoin scored three in a row to take its largest lead, 22-19. Wellesley rallied with a kill by Dabrowski and two by
Kaija Kunze-Hoeg to even the score once again at 22-22. The set would be tied five more times before a kill by Hill and a Bowdoin error gave Wellesley the 29-27 win.
Bowdoin broke a 9-9 tie with five consecutive points to take a 14-9 to begin the second set. Wellesley answered with a run of its own to go on top 17-16. Bowdoin responded with four in a row, capped by a Ryu kill, to regain a 20-17 lead. Trailing 24-21, Wellesley cut the deficit to one with a
Kaija Kunze-Hoeg kill and an ace by Meyer, but Bowdoin clinched the set with a kill by Ryu on the next rally. Ryu had six kills for the second set in a row to lead the Polar Bears.
The visitors raced out to a 7-3 lead to open the third set. Bowdoin held a comfortable lead for the majority of the frame including at 20-14. Wellesley rallied late with a 6-1 run to pull within 21-20. In similar fashion to the first set, the set was tied at 22, 23, 24, and 25 before Bowdoin got the final two points for the 27-25 victory.
The Blue trailed 12-8 in the fourth but turned things around with an 8-0 run for a 16-12 lead. A kill by Hill put the Blue in front 21-17, but Bowdoin began to chip away. The Polar Bears came within 24-23, but a Dabrowski kill secured the set for the Blue.
Wellesley carried the momentum into the final set for an early 6-1 lead behind four kills from
Kaija Kunze-Hoeg. The Blue later led 10-6, but Bowdoin rallied to make the score 11-10 after a kill by Smith. Wellesley scored the next four points and clinched the set (15-10) and the match on a kill by Hill. Kaija had six kills in the set.
Wellesley competes again tomorrow out in Western, Mass. against Amherst College at 2:00 PM. Bowdoin travels to Connecticut College on Friday, October 31 for a 7:00 PM showdown.
