WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball dropped a 3-2 home opener to the University of New England by scores of 6-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-19, and 15-12 on Wednesday night at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

Senior Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) led the Blue (3-2) with 13 kills and 23 digs. Sophomore Sarah Jin (San Jose, Calif.) finished with a career-high 11 kills to go with nine digs. First-year Natalie Dabrowski (Chicago, Ill.) also reached double figures with 10 kills. Junior Caroline Meyer (Indianapolis, Ind.) picked up a career best 17 digs. Sophomore Else Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) contributed 44 assists, nine digs and three aces.    

Senior Ellijah Hanley (Pupukea, Hawaii) came away with a match-best 16 kills to lead UNE (4-3). Junior Hannah Nowell (Woburn, Mass.) tallied 14 kills and eight digs. Senior Kelsey Bradshaw (San Antonio, Texas) led the team with 15 digs. First-year Lylah Shumway (Northfield, N.H.) added 11 digs, three aces and three assists. 

Wellesley cruised to a 25-6 win in the first set behind .476 hitting and 12 kills. Dabrowski had five kills, while sophomore Logan Wilson (Woodside, Calif.) posted three of the Blue's five aces. Junior Emily Goldstein (Houston, Texas) contributed three kills and a couple of blocks in the set.

Wellesley took a 2-0 lead in the match by winning the second set 25-18. The home team led 10-8, but UNE stormed back to take a 13-11 advantage and force a Blue timeout. Wellesley later trailed 16-15 before an impressive 10-2 run to close the frame and secure the win. Sophomore Ella Mancuso (Andover, Mass.) and Kaija Kunze-Hoeg each had five kills as Wellesley posted overall. Hanley led UNE with four kills. 

The Nor'easters took an early 6-3 lead to begin the third. Wellesley eventually went on top 14-8 and later took a 19-14 advantage. UNE rallied to tie the score at 20-20 but a UNE miscue and a Meyer ace gave Wellesley a 22-20 edge. Trailing 23-21, UNE received a kill from Nowell and then benefited from three straight Wellesley errors to take the set 25-23 and keep the match alive.

UNE raced out to another 6-3 lead before Wellesley responded to take a 10-8 advantage. The teams went back and forth for the majority of the frame with numerous lead changes and several ties. The Blue trailed 19-17 but scored the next two points for a 19-19 score and the ninth tie of the set. UNE went on a 6-0 run, including three kills by Nowell, to win the set 25-19 and knot the match at 2-2. UNE registered 15 kills in the set.

After a 2-0 start in the final frame by Wellesley, the teams alternated 4-0 stretches to put the Blue up 6-4. A Dabrowski kill and a Nor'Easters error helped Wellesley take a 8-5 advantage into the side switch. After going up 10-6, Wellesley lost it footing over a 7-1 barrage from UNE to put the visitors ahead, 13-11. K. Kunze-Hoeg briefly stopped the momentum with a kill before Nowell and Hanley retaliated with back-to-back kills to put a bow on the comeback, 15-12.

Next up, the Blue will compete in a tri-match at Saint Joseph's College (Maine) on Saturday, September 13. The team takes on Bates College at 1:00 PM and then plays host St. Joe's at 3:00 PM. The Nor'Easters are back in action that same day at Westfield State University.