Admittedly, women’s volleyball has had a rough season. While pulling off several impressive victories, many of the squad’s matches have ended with heartbreaking losses. Unfortunately, the Cardinals’ final nonconference match followed the same pattern as most of the season: a solid effort coupled with impressive individual performances but eventual defeat at the hands of their opponent.

On Wednesday, Oct. 24, the Cardinals faced off against Connecticut rival Eastern Connecticut State University. The two teams had met earlier in the season at the Trinity Invitational in Hartford, where the Warriors conquered the Cardinals 3-0. While Wesleyan was able to stay close to ECSU throughout the entire match this time around, the Warriors once again came away victorious.

The first set of the match was quite evenly played, with the two teams going point for point throughout. ECSU proved victorious in this set, however, besting the Cardinals by the very slim margin of 23-25. Wesleyan rallied from their crushing loss to take the second set 25-17. The Warriors fought right back in the third set, winning 20-25. ECSU secured their overall victory in the fourth set by a margin of 21-25.

As  usual, several Cardinals had strong individual performances. Offensively, Kim Farris ’14 led the way with 16 kills. Monica Leslie ’14 also performed quite well, racking up 14 kills and an impressive .414 hitting percentage. Freshman standout Brenna Tharnstrom had nine digs and 31 assists, while Kate Centofanti ’14 had a team-high 11 digs.

It is now officially crunch time for the Cardinals. The squad currently stands at 8-14 in season play and 1-9 in the NESCAC conference. This weekend it will host the Hamilton Continentals in the Silloway Gymnasium for its final regular season match. For the team to continue on to the NESCAC championship tournament, it must win this match. Bates must also win over either Trinity or Amherst, while Colby must fall to both the aforementioned squads in order for the Cardinals’ hopes of post-season play to be kept alive.