Middletown, Conn. - The Trinity College Bantams fell to the Wesleyan University Cardinals, 3-0, in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) volleyball action at Silloway Gymnasium in Middletown on Friday night. Trinity falls to 6-5 overall and 0-5 in the NESCAC while Wesleyan improves to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in conference action. Trinity returns to play tomorrow for a 1 p.m. NESCAC matchup in New London against Connecticut College. 

Sophomore Colette Scheffers (Flossmoor, Ill.) and junior Hanna Engstrom (Hopkinton, Mass.) led the Bantams with seven kills each, while first-year Jessica Chu (Old Tappan, N.J.) tallied 14 assists and senior Grace Metry (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) added eight digs. Rookie Ali Odermann (Lenexa, Kan.) led Trinity on the serve with two aces. Wesleyan was led by Harper Graves (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) who finished with a game-high ten kills while Kaira Muraoka-Robertson (Los Angeles, Calif.) tallied 25 assists and Phia Bellizzi (Ladera Beach, Calif.) had 12 digs. 

Wesleyan was in control for most of the first two sets. In the first game, the Cardinals rattled off seven unanswered points to take a 12-5 lead, and never looked back. Nicole Hilton (Wantagh, N.Y.) hit the winning kill off an assist from Grace Rose (Pacific Palisades, Calif.).

The momentum carried over into the second set, as Wesleyan pulled away early and looked poised to run away with the game. The Cardinals went ahead, 22-9, however, Trinity didn't back down as the Bantams rallied by scoring 11 of the next 12 points to cut the deficit to four, 24-20. Back-to-back kills by co-captains Rachel Underwood (Danville, Calif.) and Claudia Varner (Port Washington, Conn.) started the run before Scheffers tallied a pair of kills sandwhiched between two Cardinal attack errors. Odermann served one of her two aces to make it a five-point game but after a Wesleyan timeout, Fallon Konow (Chicago, Ill.) capped off the set victory for the hosts with a kill.

The third game went back-and-forth early on until a 4-1 run by Wesleyan gave the home team a 14-10 advantage. The Cardinals increased their lead from that point on en route to a seven-point win.