NEW LONDON, Conn. – Wellesley College volleyball dropped a 3-0 NEWMAC contest at Coast Guard Academy Tuesday night at Roland Hall. The Bears won by scores of 25-10, 25-19 and 25-17.
Coast Guard (10-5 Overall, 2-3 NEWMAC) used a balance attack that saw 10 players record at least one kill. Sophomore Amelia Matson (Mililani, Hawaii) led the team with eight to go with eight digs. Senior Sarah Somer (Cary, N.C.) was next with seven kills on .294 hitting and five blocks. First-year Ava Ahokovi (Honolulu, Hawaii) tallied 17 assists, while senior Laila Baameur (Bakersfield, Calif.) posted a match-high 14 digs.
Sophomore
Sarah Jin (San Jose, Calif.) matched a career-high with 11 kills to lead the Blue (7-7 Overall, 2-3 NEWMAC). Senior
Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) recorded 17 assists and seven digs. Junior
Caroline Meyer (Indianapolis, Ind.) picked up nine digs. Sophomore
Logan Wilson (Woodside, Calif.) registered three digs, two kills, and two blocks.
Coast Guard hit .429 in the first set to cruise to the 25-10 score. The Bears scored the opening five points of the evening, which included a pair of Somer kills. The home team later led 23-7 before a mini 3-1 run by Wellesley, but a kill by Samantha Ventimiglia (Key West, Fla.) secured the victory.
In the second set, Wellesley raced out to a 10-5 advantage behind five kills from four players in the run. Coast Guard responded with a 9-0 run to take a 14-10 lead and never looked back. The Blue came within three at 17-14, after a kill from junior
Evie Hill (Rocklin, Calif.), but that would be as close as they would get as the Bears went on for the 25-19 win. Coast Guard had six aces in the set.
Coast Guard took an early 8-1 lead to begin the third set before Wellesley chipped away to eventually tie the score at 15-15. The Bears answered by scoring the next five points to put the set out of reach on the way to the 25-17 triumph.
Up next, the Blue will host a non-conference match with Brandeis University on Thursday, October 9 at 6:00 PM. The Bears travel to Springfield College for a 7:00 PM start on Tuesday, October 14.
