For Immediate Release
September 23, 2008
Wellesley Sports Information
Wellesley Sweeps Coast Guard, 3-0
WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley volleyball got back on the winning track this evening with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-22) sweep of the United States Coast Guard Academy, snapping a five-match win streak for the Bears. The win lifts the Blue to 9-1 overall, 2-1 in NEWMAC play. Coast Guard drops to 5-7, 2-1 in the conference.
The Blue jumped out to an early lead in set one, capitalizing on strong serving from Madeleine Brumley (Lafayette, La.) to take an 8-0 lead. Coast Guard trimmed the lead to 10-5, but could get no closer as Wellesley cruised to a 25-14 win. Set two saw the Bears take an early 3-1 edge, but Wellesley fought back to take a 10-8 lead. The Blue used solid defense and transition offense to gradually pull away, taking the second set 25-17 for a 2-0 lead in the match.
Coast Guard re-grouped for set three and used a four-point run to take a 15-10 lead. Wellesley rebounded to tie the game at 15-15, but the Bears broke away again for a 21-17 edge. Once again the Blue battled back, scoring eight of the next nine points to take the deciding set 25-22.
The Bears were led by Nicole Gurr (Acton, Calif.), who tallied 11 kills and 10 digs on the night. Mary Bitzer (Longmeadow, Mass.) chipped in eight kills, while libero Jessica Anderson (Kalamazoo, Mich.) talled 15 digs. Ashley Bullard (Houston, Tx.) and Heather Watka (Pepperell, Mass.) split the setting duties, with nine and eight assists, respectively.
Jessica Duff (Milton, Abingdon, UK) led the Blue with 14 kills. Casi Schwisow (Bellevue, Wash.) tallied nine kills, while Alice Cummings (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Samantha Du (Houston, Tx.) added seven each. Naomi Iwata (Seattle, Wash.) led the Blue defensively with 16 digs, as Brumley added 14 digs and four aces. Victoria Peng (Diamond Bar, Calif.) dished out 34 assists in the win.
Coast Guard returns to action next Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 7:00 pm, when they travel to MIT for a key NEWMAC match. Wellesley takes the court on Friday, Sept. 26, at 6:00 pm, when they face Vassar in the first round of the MIT tournament (first round at Tufts University).