After starting out its season 0-6, the volleyball team finally has a winning record, and is sitting at 13-12 (4-5 in NESCAC play) after winning five matches in a row since Oct. 20. Three of those wins took place at the Western Connecticut State Tournament, where the team captured first place and junior libero Ruby Hernandez received tournament MVP honors. The team has also clinched a spot in the NESCAC Championship and has one regular-season match left against Connecticut College on Friday before beginning postseason play the following weekend.

“These last few weeks have been a great confidence boost for the team,” said freshman Laura Yim. “We are feeling good about the way the season has progressed and are looking forward to [the] NESCAC Championship.”

The team began its winning streak on the 20th, taking on Rhode Island College at home and sinking the Anchorwomen in three sets, taking the match 25-20, 25-19, and 25-14. The team then headed to Western Connecticut State on Oct. 23 and 24 to play in the WestConn Classic. The competition was full of tough non-conference opponents, but the Cards proved to be the cream of the crop, and went 3-0 to capture first place.
In the first match of the tournament, the Cards took on Babson College and made short work of the Beavers, defeating them in three sets, 25-18, 25-14, and 25-23. On Saturday the team took on two squads they had defeated 3-0 earlier in the season, Vassar College and Western Conn. In the Vassar match the Cards came out strong, taking the first set 25-19, but stumbled a bit in the second set, losing 22-25. In the third frame the Cardinals hit their stride, taking the set 25-16, and then sealed the match 26-24 in the fourth stanza. In the title match the Cards took on Western Connecticut State, a team they had defeated a little less than a month prior, and the Cards handled the Colonials in four sets to take the match and the tournament.

In addition to winning the tournament, the Cardinals received some tournament honors for individual players, including an MVP award for Hernandez and All-Tournament honors for sophomore Alissa Santucci. Hernandez had 74 assists in the three matches, an average of 6.73 per set, and her impressive play also earned her NESCAC Co-Player of the Week recognition. Santucci had a great all-around tournament, racking up 32 kills, seven aces, 33 digs and 11 assists over the weekend.

On Wednesday the Cardinals took on Eastern Connecticut State in their last home game of the season, and they made it a good one, defeating the Warriors in three sets, 25-20, 25-17, 25-15. With that win, the team sealed its undefeated home record at 6-0. In addition, senior setter Ellie Healy reached the extremely impressive milestone of 4,000 assists in her career as a Cardinal, just the second player in Wesleyan history to reach that mark.

The team returns to action on Friday for its last regular-season match against NESCAC opponent Conn. College. A win would guarantee Wesleyan a winning record for the fifth straight season and ninth time in the last ten years and also give Wesleyan a .500 record in NESCAC play (5.5). The match begins at 8:00 Friday night in New London.