Nov 8, 2007 Wellesley Sweeps Endicott, 3-0, In NCAA Volleyball Tournament CAMBRIDGE, Mass.
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No. 4 Wellesley College defeated No. 5 Endicott College, 30-18,
30-25, 30-26, in an NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball New
England Regional match on Thursday. The Blue (28-6) will face
either No. 1 MIT or No. 8 Maine Maritime Academy at 7:00 p.m. on
Friday. The Gulls close the season with a 26-11 record.
Trailing 4-3 in the opening frame, a kill by Jessica Duff
sparked a 14-4 run by Wellesley. Endicott could not overcome the
large deficit as the Blue cruised to victory.
The second stanza was a back-and-forth affair, featuring 11 ties
and six lead changes. The Gulls slowly inched out to a 9-5
advantage behind a five-point serving run from Brittany Nolan.
Wellesley quickly evened the contest, but Endicott countered by
scoring six out of the next eight points (15-11). Lauren
Rasmussen's strike sparked a 5-1 spurt that evened the frame at 16.
After exchanging points on the next five serves, the Gulls regained
the lead at 19-18 with a hit from Amy Grigg. The Blue responded by
recapturing the advantage and establishing its largest margin thus
far (23-20). Endicott stormed back with four straight points before
Wellesley closed out the game by winning six of the final seven
points.
The early stages of the third game were much like the previous
frame as neither team established a lead of more than two. Facing a
one-point deficit (13-12), Duff's hit tied the match for the Blue,
which was followed by an ace by Rasumussen ace that helped power it
to an 18-13 advantage. Endicott struggled to narrow the gap as
Wellesley held on for the win.
Alice Cummings paced the Blue with 14 kills and a .407 hitting
performance while Murielle Dawdy posted 12 kills and three blocks.
Emily Peters anchored the defense with 12 digs as Rasmussen tallied
four aces. Billie Briones and Victoria Peng shared setting duties,
finishing with 24 and 16 assists, respectively.
Hayley Janelle led Endicott with 10 kills and a .474 hitting
percentage as Brittany Phillips bolstered the attack with nine
kills. Meghan Hall distributed 25 assists while Steph Wiese
collected 10 digs.
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