MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Connecticut College volleyball team fell to Wesleyan by a 3-0 decision in NESCAC action on Thursday evening. Set scores were 25-20, 25-20, and 25-16.
 
The first set was super competitive with 11 ties and six lead changes. The Camels went on a run to take control by getting two aces from freshman Julia Dailey (Charlottesville, Va.) as well as a pair of kills from senior Avery Light (Sudbury, Mass.) during a hot stretch, eventually leading 14-11, but the hosts fought back. After a service error made it 18-16, the Cardinals rattled off three straight and never trailed again. Maya Lopansri added two aces down the stretch to give Wesleyan the five-point win in the set.
 
The Camels jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set with junior Nicolette Marino (Verona, N.J.) serving. Wesleyan jumped back in it with a 3-0 run of its own, and the teams got locked in another seesaw battle. Although Connecticut College appeared to gain the upper hand when junior Christina Leduc (Mendon, Mass.) registered a kill to spark a streak of four unanswered to make it 17-15 in favor of the Camels. However, Wesleyan came back again and concluded the set with three straight points to claim another five-point victory.
 
Wesleyan (5-1, NESCAC 2-1) used the momentum to build up a commanding 7-1 lead in the third frame, as a kill by Brina Kuslak followed by a Camel ball handling error prompted a timeout to slow things down. The Camels trimmed the lead down to four at 9-5 on back-to-back kills by freshman Katherine Randall (Chicago, Ill.) followed by a double block from freshman Lauren Carey (New York, N.Y.) and junior Katie Gunderman (Oakland, Calif.), but the hosts would pull away again.
 
Kuslak led Wesleyan with 15 kills. She also hit at a blistering .591 clip by committing only two errors on 22 swings. Lopansri had a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs, while Mariko Tanaka registered seven kills. Jenna Oyaola had 13 digs.
 
Randall recorded her first career double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs in the losing effort. Dailey added 18 digs, and Carey contributed 25 assists, nine digs, and two blocks. Gunderman finished with three blocks.
 
Connecticut College (0-3, NESCAC 0-3) will next trek to Smith College in Massachusetts to face Clark and the host Pioneers on Saturday afternoon. Its first game against the pair of NEWMAC opponents will be played at 2 p.m.