WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball was bested by Emerson College, 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-13, 25-11) in a NEWMAC contest at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
The Lions (20-4 Overall, 8-2 NEWMAC) had a 10 kill, 13 dig double-double from junior Chloe Hockenson (McLean, Va.). Sophomore Shirley Yu (Beijing, China) and Catherine McDonough (Los Angeles, Calif.) were everywhere at the net, combining for 16 block assists. Junior Sophia Schiappa (Burr Ridge, Ill.) paced the squad with 16 assists.
Junior Else Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) guided the Blue (12-12 Overall, 4-6 NEWMAC) with 36 assists and nine digs. Kunze-Hoeg moved into ninth in program history in career assists (1714). Classmate Ella Mancuso (North Andover, Mass.) had a career day on attack, recording 19 kills with a white-hot .424 hitting percentage. Senior Caroline Meyer (Indianapolis, Ind.) was the team leader with 12 digs.
Wellesley went up early 7-3 in the first and was up 15-11 midway through the set. The Lions used a 4-0 run to tie up the frame and later charged forward with an 8-0 run en route to a 25-18 set.
The second set started competitively and Emerson led by as many as four at 18-14. Down 20-17, Wellesley dug in and launched a 6-0 blitz to change the momentum. A few points later with kills from Mancuso and senior Evie Hill (Rocklin, Calif.) and Wellesley had leveled up the match.
Emerson controlled large stretches of both the third and fourth sets, with Yu and McDonough shining at the net. The match ended with one final Emerson block, its 13th point won via that method.
Both teams will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, November 7. Wellesley competes in a noon road match at Smith College. Emerson hosts Coast Guard Academy and non-conference Brandeis University in a tri-match.
