WELLESLEY, Mass. —
The United States Coast Guard Academy women's volleyball team fell in straight sets at New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foes Wellesley College on Tuesday night. The Bears found themselves on the wrong end of 25-23, 25-16, and 25-16 set scores.
Coast Guard falls to 9-5 on the season and 1-3 in league play following back-to-back losses, while Wellesley improves to 9-4 overall and 3-2 in the NEWMAC following back-to-back wins. The Blue will look to make it a win streak when they host non-conference Eastern Connecticut State (8-4) this Friday, the 9th.
The two sides played evenly to start the first set before Wellesley went on a 12-3 run to take a 19-10 lead. Coast Guard responded by winning 11 of the next 14 exchanges to make it a 21-22 set, recording three of their four aces in the frame during the run. The Blue made it set point with a kill and an ace, and Coast Guard kept the set going with back-to-back points of their own. The hosts ultimately secured the first set with their 15th kill of the game up to that point.
Senior middle
Sam Ventimiglia (Key West, Fla.) and sophomore hitter
Corey Lemmer (San Francisco, Calif.) matched two Blue players with a set-leading four kills. Ventimiglia went on to record a team-leading ten points and ten kills, while Lemmer followed close behind with 9.5 points on eight kills and 1.5 blocks.
Wellesley rode the momentum from their first set win to open set two with an 11-5 lead. The Blue held the line before going on a 7-1 run to take a 23-11 lead and reached set point amidst a 5-1 run for the Bears. Four of Coast Guard's five points during the small run came from Blue attack errors. Wellesley was able to settle back in and put down one more kill to take the commanding 2-0 match lead.
Ventimiglia added four more kills to lead all players in the frame. Neither team had much success in attacking during the set, with the Bears hitting .073 and Wellesley going .146, while Coast Guard was hindered further by five service errors.
Set three started with the Bears holding their hosts close, trailing just 9-11 to start, but Wellesley would open it up with a 10-4 run to take heavy control. Coast Guard mustered two more points but were unable to rebound before Wellesley won four of the next five points to take the match. The Bears hit .313 with just two attack errors and one service error in the final set, while Wellesley outpaced them with 17 kills on .405 hitting and three aces.
Coast Guard saw senior
Eloise Shirley (Rock Island, Ill.) and freshman
Asia Fulp (Seaside, Calif.) combine for 11.5 points on nine kills and 2.5 blocks, with both hitting at a .444 rate. Sophomore setter
Ava Ahokovi (Honolulu, Hawai'i) totaled 15 assists and senior libero
Courtney Shire (Cape May, N.J.) had 13 digs to lead their side.
Bears women's volleyball will get a week off from competitive play before they look to bounce back on the 13th as hosts of NEWMAC foes Springfield College (10-4, 2-2). The Pride have won the last two meetings by scores of 3-1, but Coast Guard was on the right side of the result the last time the two sides played at Roland Hall.
