The women’s volleyball team opened NESCAC play this weekend by tyrannizing all three of their NESCAC opponents. The Cards did not give up a game on the way to 3-0 sweeps of both Bates and Colby. Wesleyan went on to roll Bowdoin 3-1 for their 17th consecutive win against the squad.

At 3-0, the Cards are tied for the conference lead with Connecticut College. The Cards sit one-half game ahead of Little Three rivals Amherst and Williams, which both sport 2-0 conference records.
The Cardinals opened the weekend against Bates on Friday night. Entering the match, Wesleyan had a 6-25 record against Bates, its lowest historical win total and winning percentage (.194) against any NESCAC foe other than Williams (6-37 record; .140 winning percentage). Wesleyan had, however, won the previous two matches against Bates, both by 3-0 scores. The Cardinals extended their winning streak to three with another 3-0 win. The Cardinals prevailed in the first game with a count of 30-21 despite a strong showing from Bates.

But after that, the Cardinals rolled. They went on to dominate the next two games 30-16 and 30-18.

Outside hitter Lisa Drennan ’09 led the team with 12 kills, and fellow outside hitter Fotini Zenidis ’11 added 11. Setter Ellie Healy ’10 recorded 38 of the team’s 39 assists. On the other side, defensive specialist Ruby Hernandez ’11 added 10 digs, and Healy and outside hitter Becca Rodger ’08 chipped in six apiece. With 23 errors and a .096 hitting percentage, the Bobcats’ meager attack also helped Wesleyan cruise to victory.

The Cardinals took on host Colby on Saturday morning. Wesleyan exacted revenge for its last visit to Colby, a 3-0 loss in the first round of the 2005 NESCAC tournament, with a 3-0 win of its own. Wesleyan cruised to a 30-20 win in the first game and held on for a 30-23 victory in the second before closing out the match with a 30-21 triumph. Drennan again led the team with 14 kills and also had 14 digs. Hernandez led the defense with 18 digs, and Rodger added 10 kills and 11 digs. Healy added 33 assists to raise her weekend total to 71. Colby finished with 25 errors and a hitting percentage of just .033 on the way to its second loss of the season.

The Cardinals took on Bowdoin on Saturday afternoon in the weekend’s final match. Wesleyan entered the match with a sixteen-match winning streak against the Polar Bears, having not lost to them since the inaugural match in 1987. Wesleyan won the opening game, 30-21, but Bowdoin roared back with a 30-18 win in the second game. However, Wesleyan took the third game 30-23 and followed with a 30-26 win in the fourth to wrap up the 3-1 win and the weekend sweep. Drennan added 17 kills to raise her team-leading total to 90, and Ashley Farrow ’10 added 10 kills of her own. Hernandez again led the team in digs with 25, bringing her season total to 86. Healy and Drennan added 14 and 12, respectively. Healy also recorded 43 assists to give her 114 for the weekend. The Cardinals have now won 17 straight matches against Bowdoin, the longest current winning streak of any Wesleyan team against a NESCAC opponent.

Since 1990 when Colby began fielding a varsity team, to 2005, Wesleyan had never defeated all three Maine schools in the same season. The Cardinals have now performed the feat in consecutive seasons. Wesleyan is 3-0 in conference play to open the season for the first time since the NESCAC became a playing conference in 2000 and has won its NESCAC opener for just the third time in that span; the Cardinals also won their conference opener in 2006 (Tufts) and 2002 (Connecticut College).

The Cardinals do not play another NESCAC game until Oct. 3, when they take on Connecticut College. In the interim, Wesleyan will play at Rhode Island College on Tuesday and will participate in the M.I.T. Invitational tournament this weekend. R.I.C. is the only team from Rhode Island to ever defeat Wesleyan, which is 14-8 all-time against the Anchormen and 20-0 against all other Rhode Island teams. The two teams have played each other every season since 2000, with Wesleyan winning six of the seven matches during that time. The Cardinals last participated in the M.I.T. Invitational in 2000, defeating M.I.T. and Amherst and falling to Skidmore and Bates.