NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 11 Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon in NESCAC action at Luce Field House.
The Cardinals won by set scores of 25-22, 25-15 and 25-23 to remain unbeaten on the season, improving to 12-0 overall and 5-0 in league play. Carly Grumet led a balanced offensive attack as Wesleyan committed only 13 attack errors and hit .275 as a team.
Keira Deeney (Norwell, Mass.) recorded a match-high 11 kills to pace the Camels and also chipped in five blocks.
Lexi Rosenblatt (Austin, Texas) and
Aubrie Letourneau (Mattapoisett, Mass.) combined for 27 assists while
Taylor Merrifield (Honolulu, Hawaii) and
Dylan Kokkinos (Aurora, Ill.) supplied 11 digs apiece on the defensive end.
Conn trailed 23-17 in the opening set but ripped off five straight points—a stretch that featured two kills by
Vibha Sheth (Austin, Texas), a kill and an ace by
Rae Wartelle (Tacoma, Wash.) and a kill by
Emilie Ferdinand (Stoneham, Mass.)—to cut the deficit to one. However, the Cardinals got back-to-back kills from Siena Steines and Paulina Marino-Bindi to close out the set and go up 1-0 in the match.
With the score tied at 14-14 in the second, Wesleyan took control and scored 11 of the final 12 points to take the set. Conn responded early in the third, jumping out to a 9-5 advantage thanks to a pair of kills by Deeney. Later, Ferdinand came up with big kills on second attempts that tied the score at 19-19 and 20-20. The Camels then led 23-22 following a kill by Letourneau, but the Cardinals picked up the next three points to sew up the match.
Conn (4-8 overall, 1-4 NESCAC) will next play at Bates College on Friday, October 9 at 6:00 p.m.
