The volleyball team swept three matches in the Wesleyan Invitational over the weekend. In the process, the Cardinals avenged a loss to Amherst in last year’s Invitational with a come-from-behind 3-2 win and also shut out both SUNY Old Westbury and Trinity. The Cards now sit at 12-2, their best start after 14 matches since 1989, when they won their first 16 matches before finishing with a 23-7 record.

The Cardinals opened the weekend with a Friday night match against Amherst. The match began auspiciously for the Cards, who rolled to a 30-21 win in the first game. Amherst, however, roared back with a 30-25 win to tie the match at 1-1. The Jeffs then scored a 30-20 win in the third game to put Wesleyan on the brink of defeat, but the Cardinals won the fourth game by an identical score to send the match to a deciding fifth game.

The fifth game started out as an evenly fought battle, with the teams battling to a 6-6 tie early on. Wesleyan then scored seven straight points to take a 13-6 lead. Amherst rallied but was unable to overcome the seven-point deficit, and the 15-9 win gave Wesleyan the match and handed the Lord Jeffs their first loss of the season.

The match was played in front of Wesleyan’s largest crowd of the year, with over 200 spectators present at Silloway Gymnasium. Defensive specialist Ruby Hernandez ’11 believes the raucous crowd was crucial to Wesleyan’s come-from-behind victory.

“The atmosphere for the Amherst match was, in one word, intense,” Hernandez said. “Our fans were beyond enthusiastic, wearing logoed shirts and face paint and creating new cheers every time we scored on a rally. They were so involved that…it helped keep us focused on every point, knowing that we had a whole crowd to impress.”

“We certainly [made] a statement Friday,” added outside hitter Fotini Xenidis ’11. “Beating an undefeated Amherst definitely put us on the map as a team to beat in the NESCAC. Many teams weren’t expecting us to win, considering our record [9-2 entering the match] and such.”

Fresh from its riveting win against Amherst, Wesleyan took on SUNY Old Westbury on Saturday morning for the first time ever. The Cards simply overwhelmed the Panthers; after winning 30-16 and 30-17 in the first two games, Wesleyan held the Green and White to only ten points in the third game. The match lasted just one hour, making it by far the Cardinals’ quickest of the season.

Next up for the Cardinals was in-state foe Trinity. They entered the contest 9-0 all-time in the tournament against the Bantams (who have participated in the tournament every year since 1997, except for 2004). Wesleyan had little trouble with the Bantams; after cruising to a 30-22 win in the first game, the Cards held yet another opponent under 20 points in a 30-16 second-game victory.

The third game was the closest, but Wesleyan emerged with a 30-24 win to capture its second Wesleyan Invitational title in the past three years.

Outside hitter Lisa Drennan ’09 and setter Ellie Healy ’10 were both named to the all-tournament team for the second consecutive year.

“It was incredibly satisfying to take back our own Invitational title,” Hernandez said. “We really proved to all the fans and the other teams and coaches what we can do. To come from behind [against Amherst] and to not only push the match to five games, but also to win by such a large margin in the final game, was the greatest victory the team has had so far this season.”

Drennan, who began the week leading the NESCAC in kills per game (5.37), finished with 57 kills despite not playing in the Old Westbury match. Xenidis added 24 kills in the three matches, and Healy contributed 107 assists. Hernandez finished the weekend with 55 digs, including a 34-dig effort against Amherst to tie Wesleyan’s all-time single-match record. The Cardinals also recorded 24 service aces and 18 team blocks in the three matches.

Wesleyan will battle Connecticut College on Wednesday in New London. The Cards previously defeated their NESCAC foe in the MIT Invitational, 3-2, in mid-September. Wednesday’s match begins at 7 p.m.