Volleyball Wins 2nd Consecutive Little Three Title

Wesleyan’s volleyball team won its second consecutive Little Three Championship Sept. 30 following a 3-0 sweep over archrival Amherst College on the road. The Cardinals (10-2) remain perfect in NESCAC play with a 5-0 mark. Shortly after, they saw their 10-match win streak come to an end as they fell to non-conference foe Endicott College, 3-1.

With Wesleyan’s win over Williams earlier this year, 3-1, the Cardinals claim the Little Three title for the second year in a row and third all-time.

The Cardinals won their first match of the day over Amherst by scores of 25-20, 26-24, 25-13. Wesleyan was led by first-year Maddie Kurke who was extremely efficient as she had a team-high 10 kills with a .529 hitting percentage. Mia Hogan ’20 finished with nine kills and a .400 attack clip, and Madeleine Lundberg ’19 finished with eight kills and 11 digs.

Kaira Muraoka-Robertson ’20 and Grace Rose ’21 finished with 18 and 17 assists, respectively, and Phia Bellizzi ’21 led the team with 15 digs. Jenna Otaola ’22 added 11.

Wesleyan scored seven consecutive points early in the first set to take an 11-4 lead. Amherst closed the gap to two, 19-17, but the Cardinals rallied by outscoring the Mammoths 6-3 down the stretch.

Both teams exchanged points often in the second frame as it went back-and-forth from the beginning. Wesleyan led 24-21 but three straight points by the home team tied it up. The Cardinals remained resilient, however, and a kill by Nicole Hilton ’20 followed by an Amherst error led to a 26-24 win.

It was all Wesleyan in the third as the Cardinals jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back. They recorded 15 kills and just one error for a .368 hitting percentage.

Wesleyan dropped its second match of the day to the Endicott Gulls by scores of 25-15, 25-20, 21-25, 25-19.

The Cardinals return to action Saturday, Oct. 6 for a NESCAC home contest against Middlebury. The match is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

Read more in this Wesleyan Athletics press release.