WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball concluded the regular season with a 3-1 (25-18, 18-25, 25-23, 25-13) NEWMAC loss to Smith College on Saturday afternoon at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. Wellesley ends the regular season at 11-13 Overall and 4-7 in NEWMAC play. Smith finishes 19-11 Overall and 7-4 in conference competition.

Both teams will now await the release of the NEWMAC Women's Volleyball Championship bracket to determine their next opponents.

Prior to the game Wellesley acknowledged senior Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) for her contributions to the team. Additionally, sophomore Else Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) recorded a 1000th career assist.

Senior Miranda Oakes (San Francisco, Calif.) finished with eight kills and six blocks for the Bears. First-year Hana Suzuki (Chattanooga, Tenn.) led the squad with 23 assists while junior Addison Klunder (Los Angeles, Calif.) put up 11 digs to go with seven kills. Junior Anna Feuer (Frederick, Md.) tallied seven kills on .636 hitting. 

K. Kunze-Hoeg had a 15-kill, 12-dig double-double for the Blue. E. Kunze-Hoeg registered 30 assists and first-year Natalie Dabrowski (Chicago, Ill.) hit double figures with 10 kills to go with four blocks.

The match started out evenly, with the teams alternating leads through 14-14 in the first set. Smith then scored the next four points, including a couple of kills by Feuer, before the Blue answered with three in a row. The Bears went on a 7-1 run, capped by a Skye Higashihara (Honolulu, Hawaii) ace, to close the set 25-18. 

Wellesley ran out to an 8-4 advantage in set two, but the Bears evened things up with four points in a row. After a Smith error and a kill by Dabrowski, the Blue regained the lead and would not relinquish the edge for the rest of the frame. The lead ballooned to 21-14 as Wellesley hit .370 in the set en route to the 25-18 win. 

The Blue began the third set in strong fashion with a 10-6 advantage after a Dabrowski kill. Smith chipped away to eventually tie the score at 19-19. Trailing 22-20, the Bears went on a 5-1 run to earn the 25-23 win on an Alison Chapin (Temecula, Calif.) kill. 

The visitors carried their momentum into the fourth set to begin with a 6-0 spurt, including a pair of kills by Oakes. Smith held a comfortable lead for the duration of the frame, behind .389 hitting, on the way to a 25-13 fourth set triumph.