After dropping their first two matches of the season, the Cardinal’s bounced back last week, winning two of their three games. One of those wins came at Conn. College, as the team traveled to New London to take part in the annual NESCAC tournament hosted by the Camels. In their first game on Saturday the Cardinals fell 0-3 to the Williams Ephs, but in their afternoon game the team got their first NESCAC win of the season, defeating the Hamilton Continentals in four sets.

“Despite the 2-3 start we are actually very optimistic about this season,” said setter Laura Yim ’13. “Defeating Keene State and Hamilton last week did a lot to boost our confidence, and I think we are really coming together as a team.”

In their first match of the tournament the Cardinals got a tough draw, taking on the number 4 team in the NESCAC, and Little Three rival, the Williams Ephs. The first set was very competitive, and was tied multiple times, but, unfortunately, the Ephs came out on top, taking the set 27-25. In the next two sets the Cardinals put up a valiant effort, but the Ephs completed the sweep winning both sets 25-19.

In the second match the Cardinals came out recharged, and put together a solid game to take down the Continentals in four sets. The first set was all-Wesleyan as the team cruised to a 25-10 victory, dominating the Continentals in all aspects of the game. In the second the team stumbled a bit, dropping the game 19-25, but in the next two sets the Cardinals rolled, taking the sets 25-18 and 25-22 to seal the W.
Individually, a few Cardinals put up outstanding numbers. Outside hitter Casey Reed ’12 racked up an impressive 24 kills in the two matches, including 15 in the Hamilton match. Alissa Santucci ’12 and Lesley Faulkner ’11 also added to the Cardinal’s offense, both adding 16 kills in the two matches. On the defensive side, libero Ruby Hernandez put up an impressive 31 digs, and Yim added 66 assists in the two matches.
“Although the Williams match seems lop sided with the 3-0 final score, the game was actually pretty close, and I feel like come tournament time we will be ready to take down the Ephs,” Yim said.
The team returns to action next Saturday at the Rivier College tournament.