Cardinal Athletics: By the Numbers

.356 Hitting efficiency of the volleyball team in its 3-1 victory over Amherst Saturday.

50 Assists by setter Ellie Healy ’10 during the match.

1 Finish of the men’s crew team out of 18 boats in the Head of the Fish Regatta on Oct. 26.

1 Shots on goal by Conn. College during its 2-1 loss to the women’s soccer team last Friday.

6 Finish, out of 117 entrants, by Liz Wheatley ’09 during Saturday’s NESCAC Women’s Cross Country Championship at Bates.

Did You Know…?

Some musings from around Wesleyan athletics this week:

• Men’s and women’s soccer went out in the first round of the NESCAC Championship on Sunday, both against a familiar foe: Amherst. The Lord Jeffs have now won seven straight NESCAC Championship contests against Wesleyan, including wins in men’s ice hockey, women’s lacrosse, volleyball, and soccer. The last Wesleyan team to win a postseason contest against Amherst was men’s soccer in 2005, when the team entered the tournament as the seventh seed but took down Bowdoin, Amherst, and Williams to win the title. Overall, Wesleyan is just 3-13 against its Little Three rival in NESCAC Championship play. The Lord Jeffs have also conquered Wesleyan in postseason contests in men’s and women’s basketball, while the men’s lacrosse team vanquished its foe in 2001 and 2005. Look for a sea change this weekend: assuming both teams win their quarterfinal matches, Cardinal volleyball will battle Amherst in the NESCAC Championship semifinals Saturday at Tufts.

• In the same vein, Wesleyan men’s soccer has now suffered three straight first-round NESCAC Championship defeats following its 2005 title. Two of the losses came at home (Bates in 2006, 1-0 in double overtime, and Bowdoin in 2007, 2-0), while the third snapped a seven-game winning streak (3-0-4) against the Lord Jeffs that dated back to 2003.

• Prior to its loss at Williams on Saturday, Wesleyan football had held all six of its opponents to 20 points or fewer—making them the only team in the NESCAC that could make that claim. The last time Wesleyan held its first six opponents to fewer than three touchdowns was 1984, when the Cardinals did not allow more than 20 all year (Wesleyan fell to Trinity 20-14 in the season finale; no other team put up more than 13 against the Cardinals). Wesleyan held five of its opponents that year—Coast Guard, Hamilton, Amherst, Bowdoin, and Williams—to single digits but did not record a shutout. The 1993 team held its first five opponents under 20, a streak that ended with a 28-25 win over Bowdoin in the sixth week.