After losing their first two matches of the season, the Cardinals rebounded at home on Wednesday, defeating Keene State 3-0. Meeting for the third straight year, Wesleyan gained the home-court edge in the series 2-1. Keene won 3-2 in New Hampshire in 2009, while Wesleyan was a 3-2 victor in Middletown in 2008.
Wesleyan trailed only briefly in the first and third sets while controlling the match throughout. The second set proved to be the most decisive, as Wesleyan bolted to a 9-0 lead and held at least a five-point edge to the finish, ending with a score of 25-19. In the first and third sets, Wesleyan pulled away from 8-8 and 12-12 ties, respectively. In the first, the Cards went on an 8-1 run to break the impasse en route to a 25-19 triumph, and in the third, the cards racked up an 11-3 burst to move out to a 23-15 advantage before taking the match with a 25-22 third-set victory.
Statistically, Wesleyan got 32 assists from setter Laura Yim ’13, who also threw in five aces. Casey Reed ’12 had a match-high 13 kills along with 10 digs and two aces. AlissaSantucci ’12 contributed six kills, seven digs and two aces to the Cardinal cause. Libero Ruby Hernandez ’11 had a match-high 15 digs. Laura Volgenau ’13 had two blocks for Wesleyan.
Wesleyan heads into NESCAC round-robin play for its next matches Saturday, Sept. 18, taking on Williams and Hamilton in matches hosted by Conn. College.
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