The volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday, losing to Coast Guard 3-0 but defeating Roger Williams by the same score. Wesleyan’s last six matches have been sweeps, with the Cardinals winning and losing three. The team is now 15-6 heading into the final week of the regular season.

The Cards opened the day with a match at Coast Guard, their in-state rivals. Wesleyan entered the contest looking to break a three-game losing streak against the Bears. However, the Cardinals encountered choppy seas early on. Coast Guard won the first game 30-22 and the second 30-26 to put Wesleyan in an 0-2 hole.

The Cardinals fought valiantly in game three, but the cadets answered the call of duty and eked out a 31-29 advantage for the win. The team believes that a win in the third game could have changed the outcome of the match.

“I definitely think that if we had won the third game, we could have taken the match,” said setter Ellie Healy ’10. “We were on a run then and were definitely playing better. All in all, we played very well throughout the match. [Coast Guard] just had a few runs on us with their serving that really took us out of the game.”

Indeed, Coast Guard displayed its service acumen throughout the match. The Bears racked up 11 service aces—the highest total for any of Wesleyan’s opponents this season other than Connecticut College—and committed just three service errors. Coast Guard’s defense also collected 50 digs to Wesleyan’s 44, just the fifth time this season that the Cardinals finished with fewer digs than their opponent.

Next up for Wesleyan was Roger Williams. The Hawks put up a good fight early on, but the Cardinals snatched victory from the Hawks’ talons with 30-26 and 30-27 wins in the first two games. Wesleyan put away the Hawks with a 30-21 win in the third game to lock up their second straight 3-0 win over their Rhode Island foes. Wesleyan’s last five wins overall have all been by 3-0 scores.

“It was a really solid win,” Healy said. “[Roger Williams was] a good team and we played really well against them. It was good to have a win from this weekend to go into next weekend with a really positive outlook.”

With the win, Wesleyan improved to 15-0 all-time against Roger Williams. Volleyball is now the only Wesleyan team to be currently undefeated against any opponent against which it has played at least 15 games. Additionally, the team’s 15-match winning streak against Roger Williams is the second-longest current streak, trailing only its 17-match winning streak against Bowdoin.

Wesleyan racked up a .289 hitting percentage in the match, the ninth time this season the Cardinals cracked the .280 barrier.

Additionally, the weekend provided an excellent demonstration of the Cardinals’ depth. As has been the case all season, Wesleyan received strong contributions from its starters. Outside hitter Lisa Drennan ’09 racked up 22 kills, and defensive specialist Ruby Hernandez ’11 added 26 digs. Healy added 17 digs and 76 assists.

However, the big names alone did not dominate the box score. Outside hitter Lesley Faulkner ’11 recorded 15 kills and 7 digs—both season highs—and a .353 hitting percentage. Defensive specialist Anna Williams ’09 added six digs and also played three error-free games to record a 1.000 hitting percentage for the third time this season. In all, 12 of the 14 players on the Cardinals’ roster saw action in the match.

Wesleyan will conclude its regular season this weekend with three matches at Connecticut College. The Cardinals will attempt to snap a 12-match losing streak against Williams Friday night and will take on Middlebury and Hamilton on Saturday. Although the team has already clinched a berth in the NESCAC tournament, the matches will go a long way towards deciding the team’s seeding.

Williams defeated Wesleyan in the Cardinals’ second match of the season, 3-1. According to Healy, the team is particularly eager to avenge the earlier loss.

“We are definitely excited to play against Williams again,” Healy said. “This is a big weekend with three NESCAC matches, so all of the games are really important. Our goal is obviously to win all three, and we know that we can.”