For Immediate Release
October 27, 2009
Wellesley Sports Information
Wellesley Volleyball Falls to MIT
WELLESLEY, Mass. – In a key late season NEWMAC match-up, MIT defeated Wellesley 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23) at Keohane Sports Center this evening. With the win, the Engineers stay atop the conference standings at 8-0, while lifting their season record to 24-7. Wellesley falls to 5-2 in the NEWMAC, 18-9 overall.
In the opening set the teams battled to a 10-10 tie before a kill from Alex May (Des Moines, IA) sparked a 9-3 run for the visitors. The Blue trimmed the lead to 23-20, but got no closer as MIT closed out the set 25-20.
Wellesley rebounded in game two, jumping out to a 5-1 lead, highlighted by consecutive kills from Taylor King (Walnut Creek, CA). MIT fought back, cutting the lead to one point on six occasions, but the Blue maintained the lead throughout the set for the 25-22 win and evened the match at one game each.
MIT took a 5-1 lead to open the third set, but Wellesley tied the score at 8-8 with a kill from Elizabeth Campbell (Solona Beach, CA). The Engineers regained an advantage with a four-point serving run from Anna Dikina (Skokie, IL), with the help of two kills from Kelly Schulte (Riverside, CA). Wellesley capitalized on three Engineer errors and knotted the score at 12-12. After trading sideouts to 17-17 MIT grabbed the lead for good, courtesy of two stuff blocks from Schulte and Cecily Joujon-Roche (Laguna Hills, CA) and one stuff block from Schulte and Jenny Li (Ellicott City, MD) to spark a 25-21 win.
The Engineers grabbed an early 7-4 lead in game four, capped off by a kill from Barden Cleeland (Irvine, CA). Wellesley cut the lead to 11-9, but the Engineers replied with a 7-1 run that included three more kills from Cleeland. Wellesley bounced back with a five-point serving run from Alice Cummings (Tallahassee, FL), trimming the lead to 17-16. MIT broke away again, rebuilding its lead to 21-17. Wellesley charged again, but fell short, dropping the fourth and deciding set 25-23.
MIT was led by May with 11 kills and 9 digs while Li added nine kills. Cleeland and Joujon-Roche each recorded eight kills for the visitors while Katie Spielbauer (Lakeview, MI) led all players with 15 digs. Also for MIT, Alyssa Rothman (Plainview, NY) dished out 40 assists. Joujon-Roche and Schulte tallied five and four blocks, respectively.
Wellesley's Campbell had a match-high 17 kills, while Cummings picked up 10 to go along with 12 digs. Isabel Custodio (Powell, OH) recorded 23 assists for the Blue with Victoria Peng (Diamond Bar, CA) adding 17.
The Engineers return to action on Saturday, October 31, when they host Mount Holyoke at 1:00 in their final regular season match. The Blue will play at Springfield on Thursday, October 29, at 7:00pm, then close out their regular season on Saturday, when they host Smith at 1:00pm.