MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The seventh-seeded Connecticut College volleyball team was eliminated by a 3-0 final by No. 2 Wesleyan University in the quarterfinals of the 2026 NESCAC Championship on Saturday afternoon at Silloway Gym.
The Cardinals, who entered the match ranked 10th in the latest AVCA coaches poll, won by set scores of 25-22, 25-19 and 25-19 to earn a spot in the semifinals for the ninth straight year. Fiona LaCamera paced Wesleyan (20-2 overall) with seven kills.
Rae Wartelle (Tacoma, Wash.) led the Camels with seven kills and two blocks in the final match of her collegiate career.
Vibha Sheth (Austin, Texas) and
Tilde Keatley (Pasadena, Calif.) combined for 11 kills and each contributed a pair of blocks.
Aubrie Letourneau (Mattapoisett, Mass.) and
Lexi Rosenblatt (Austin, Texas) handed out 11 assists apiece while
Taylor Merrifield (Honolulu, Hawaii) supplied a match-high 12 digs.
The opening set was a back-and-forth affair that featured seven ties and seven lead changes. Conn led in the early stages until Wesleyan took its first lead at 7-6 following back-to-back service aces from Elliana Moreno. The Cardinals eventually stretched the lead to 22-18 before the Camels closed the gap with a 4-1 run. However, the hosts wrapped up the set behind kills by Paulina Marino-Bindi and Siena Steines to go up 1-0 in the match.
Conn jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the second set but couldn't hold the advantage. Wesleyan evened the score with a 7-2 spurt and later pulled ahead behind a 4-0 stretch. After the Camels scored three straight points to tie the score at 19-19, the Cardinals fired back with six unanswered points to close out the set. Steines recorded three kills during the flurry and finished with four in the stanza.
Wesleyan never trailed in the final set en route to the sweep. Conn trailed by as many as 10 in the frame but trimmed the deficit to 23-19 before LaCamera ended the match with her fifth and final kill of the set.
The Camels finished the season with an overall record of 11-11 (4-6 NESCAC). Conn's four NESCAC wins were the most since 2016.
