Volleyball Celebrates Senior Day with Tri-Match Sweep of Worcester St., FDU

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College volleyball cruised to a tri-match sweep of a non-conference Worcester State University and Fairleigh Dickinson University - Florham (FDU) on Saturday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. The Blue defeated Worcester St., 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-15), and FDU, 3-0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-10). In the second match, Worcester St. defeated FDU, 3-1 (25-16, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19). 

The Blue extended the team's home court winning streak to 23 consecutive matches and are now 15-3 overall. Worcester St. moves to 6-14 with the split. FDU is now 6-11 on the year. 

Wellesley 3, Worcester St. 0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-15) 

Sophomore Nicole Doerges (San Marino, Calif.) recorded a match-high 17 kills to lead the Blue past Worcester St. in the opener. 

Doerges added six digs while senior Meghan Shoop (Cypress, Calif.) added a match-best 13 digs. Sophomore setter Izzy Seebold (Concord, N.H.) added 39 assists, four aces and seven digs for the Blue, who also got 13 kills from junior Lauren Gedney (Huntersville, N.C.). 

Sophomore Natalie Gillis (Ashland, Mass.) had seven kills and eight digs to lead the Lancers. Senior Stephanie Chapin (Hampden, Mass.) chipped in with five kills, while junior Madison Kuzio (Franklin, Mass.) matched Gillis for team-high honors with eight digs.

Wellesley limited Worcester St. to a .054 attack percentage in a 25-16 first set victory. Wellesley followed with its best offensive set in the match, hitting .333 with 16 kills to take a 2-0 lead. Worcester St. opened the third set with an 11-7 lead but the Blue erased the advantage with a 10-0 run, jumping ahead 17-11 before closing out the sweep with a 25-15 win. 

Wellesley 3, FDU-Florham 0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-10) 

Wellesley finished its second match with a .507 attack percentage, as the Blue cruised to a 3-0 rout of FDU. 

Gedney totaled 11 kills on 16 attempts and Doerges added eight more to pace the Blue. Seebold dished out 33 assists to six different Wellesley players. Alexis Stull (Palo Alto, Calif.) added six kills and Nikki Jensen (Castro Valley, Calif.) tallied four. Seebold also had four kills in the match. Shoop was the only player in the match to finish in double-figures on defense, tallying 11 digs as she celebrated senior day. 

Senior Nathalia Padron (Caracas, Venezuela) finished with nine kills to lead FDU, but the Devils totaled just 22 as a squad. Sophomore Kacie Ros (Bridgewater, N.J.) had 16 assists and seven digs, while junior Jessica Garreffa (Chatham, N.J.) chipped in with five kills and six digs in the setback. 

Wellesley tallied 40 kills on 71 attempts in the victory, hitting a season-best .650 in a 25-9 first set victory. The Blue followed with commanding 25-15 and 25-10 wins in the second and third set, as the team committed just four attack errors in the match. FDU's only lead of the match came on the first point scored in the game.

The Blue return to New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday, October 15, with a 7:00 PM match-up at Coast Guard.