NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Maddie Kurke had a team-high 13 kills to go with 10 digs leading New England power Wesleyan to a 3-0 win over Coast Guard in the Cardinals season opener.

The Cardinals won by set scores of 25-19, 25-22, 25-15. Wesleyan has advanced to the NCAA tournament in each of the last three seasons.

Amanda Dake had a match-high 16 kills along with 11 digs for Coast Guard which is now 3-3 on the season. Sophia Galdamez finished with 11 kills for the Bears. Noelle Tursky led the Bears with 28 assists and 17 digs.

Sydney Smith added 10 kills for the Cardinals while Grace Dennis led the way with a match best 30 assists and Jenna Otaola had a match-high 20 digs.

The opening set was tied 10-10 before Wesleyan ran off six of the next seven points for a 16-11 lead.  The Bears would get as close as 18-15 and dropped the opener 25-19. Kurke led the Cardinals with five kills in the set while Dake and Galdamez each had four for the Bears.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the second set before the Bears used a 9-2 run to take an 11-8 lead.

The Bears led 16-11 before Wesleyan responded with a 10-2 spurt for a 21-18 lead. Coast Guard would three straight to pull even at 21-21 before the Cards scored four of the last five for the 25-22 win. Kurke would again have five kills in the set to lead Wesleyan while Dake had a set-high six kills for Coast Guard.

In the third set, neither teams traded points with neither team leading by more than one point until Wesleyan trailing 12-11 ran off four straight and eight of the next nine for a 19-13 edge and closed out the match scoring six of the final seven points for the 25-15 win.

Coast Guard is back in action on Saturday when the Bears will host UMass-Dartmouth at 11:00 and Roger Williams at 1:30 as part of the Coast Guard/Conn. College Tournament.