After very nearly beating Trinity on Friday, Sept. 27, the volleyball team finally ended its five-game losing streak with a win over Rivier University the next day, bringing the team’s record to 3-9.

Wesleyan opened its weekend home stand against its NESCAC rival in a hotly contested, back-and-forth match. The two teams took each other to a deciding fifth set, when Trinity was able to close the door, taking a 3-2 (25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-11) victory.
Captains Kim Farris ’14 and Kate Centofanti ’14 led the way offensively with 31 and 19 kills, respectively. Farris, whose 31 kills made for a college career high, added four aces to her impressive stat line. Claire Larson ’15 supported the effort, providing a remarkable 54 assists.

“As outside hitters, Kim and I are the outlets for each play,” Centofanti said. “If a pass isn’t directly to target, or if a dig is popped up off the net, we receive most of the sets.”
On the defensive side of things, Rachel Savage ’17 led the way for the Cardinals with 22 digs. Her efforts on defense provided plenty of second chance opportunities for Wesleyan on certain points. But according to her teammates, she’s providing much more than just that.

“[Savage has] been doing a phenomenal job not only of picking up a lot of balls that we haven’t been able to in the past, but also in terms of spirit on the court,” Centofanti said. “She is very focused and definitely motivates everyone around her.”

Despite impressive individual play and tremendous heart shown by the team as a whole, the Cardinals were unable to push themselves over the top in the fifth and final set. They started strongly, taking an early 8-4 lead, but then got caught up by their errors.

“I think that our downfall in the fifth set was our serving—we got nervous and missed three serves,” Centofanti said. “And that can change the momentum of a game very quickly.”

The loss extended the Cardinals’ losing streak to five games and dropped their record to 0-3 in NESCAC play, placing them in a tie with Bates for last in the conference.
Saturday spurred a bit more positivity as the Cardinals beat visiting Rivier University by a 3-1 (25-16, 15-25, 25-22, 28-26) score. The victory was the Cardinals’ first since their win against Worcester State three weeks ago.

Farris and Centofanti once again led the way with 30 combined kills, supported by Larson’s 42 assists. The most efficient Cardinal on offense, though, was Captain Monica Leslie ’14, who managed nine kills on 17 attempts for an impressive .353 kill percentage.
After dominating in the first set, the Cardinals appeared to lose control. They dropped the second set, mustering an underwhelming 15 points.

“In the second set we expected [Rivier] to play a similar game to the first set, and we didn’t expect them to come back strong, which they did,” Centofanti said.

However, the Cardinals were able to regroup and take the next two highly competitive sets. Centofanti attributed this partially to the leadership of Head Coach Gale Lackey.

“Gale definitely helped us focus up in between the second and third sets, and we went back to doing things that in the first set had gotten us points—hitting edges of the block, serving consistently, and getting runs,” Centofanti said.

The match has no bearing on Wesleyan’s postseason ambitions, as only their in-conference record will be taken into account for seeding. However, the Cardinals are still hoping they can use this win as a jumping-off point from which they can turn their season around.

“That match [against Rivier] will certainly be a turning point in our season,” Centofanti said. “These matches are just as important as the division matches because they boost team morale, and, seeing as this is our first win in a little while, it really got us pumped for this coming week and weekend.”

As long as they are without an in-conference win, the Cardinals’ dreams of making NESCACs are very much in doubt. But, especially with another win now under their belt, there is still hope of cracking the top eight NESCAC teams and making the postseason a reality for Wesleyan.

“The more [conference matches] we can take, the more confident we can be that we will make it to NESCACs, which we haven’t done since my freshman year,” Centofanti said. “So that would be very exciting.”

In terms of NESCAC play, the Cardinals will have to wait for now: their next match is at St. Joseph’s College, a non-conference opponent, on Tuesday, Oct. 1.