NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College women's volleyball team opened the 2025 season with a 3-0 victory over Salve Regina University on Tuesday night at Luce Field House.

Conn won by set scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-15. Rae Wartelle (Tacoma, Wash.) hit .522 and supplied a match-high 14 kills and four blocks to lead the Camels. Riley Lord (Exeter, N.H.) also chipped in 10 kills and a block while Aubrie Letourneau (Mattapoisett, Mass.) handed out 37 assists in her collegiate debut.

Conn never trailed in the opening set after a 6-2 start that included a pair kills from Wartelle, who racked up eight in the stanza. The Camels then raced out to a 22-12 advantage before the Seahawks came roaring back. Salve Regina used an 11-2 run to close the gap to 24-23, but a kill by Vibha Sheth (Austin, Texas) slammed the door and put the hosts up 1-0 in the match. 

The second set featured 14 ties and two lead changes, and neither team led by more than two until a 3-0 spurt put the Seahawks on top 20-17. The Camels quickly recovered behind a 6-1 stretch that included kills by Wartelle, Lord and Zoe Watts (Chicago, Ill.), and Conn secured set point on a service error to go up 2-0 in the match.

With the score tied at 5-5 in the third, the Camels doubled up Salve Regina the rest of the way and cruised to the finish. Conn led by as many as 11 in the final stages and closed out the match on another Seahawks service error, their eighth of the contest.

Caroline Festersen (Omaha, Neb.) paced Conn's defense with 12 digs while Watts chipped in 10. Watts also finished with seven kills and a service ace on the night

Lauren Hoyle (Albany, N.Y.) led Salve Regina (1-1 overall) with 12 kills and hit .346 for the match. 

Conn (1-0 overall) will next face Suffolk University on Friday, September at 6 p.m. at the MIT Invitational in Cambridge, Mass.
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