(Courtesy of Wellesley College Sports Information)

            WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College volleyball got 17 kills from first year Lauren Gedney (Huntersville, N.C.) to cruise to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-15) sweep of the University of Southern Maine in non-conference play on Thursday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

            The Blue, ranked fifth in this week's NCAA regional rankings, are now 18-5 overall.  Southern Maine slides to 19-8 on the year.

            Gedney finished with 17 kills, her most since a 21-kill output at the University of Massachusetts Boston earlier this month.  Junior setter Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) totaled 36 assists to pace the Blue attack, while sophomore Meghan Shoop (Cypress, Calif.) and junior Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) each tallied five digs. Reece also had seven kills on 11 attempts for the Blue.

            Senior Jess Williamson (Goffstown, N.H.) had 10 kills on a team-high 31 attacks for the Huskies.  Sophomore Kylee Austin (Saco, Maine) chipped in with seven kills on 15 attacks, while senior libero Mariah Garcia (Brighton, Colo.) had 10 digs to lead Southern Maine on defense.  Junior setter Nicole Schmitz (St. Paul, Minn.) finished with 24 assists in the setback.

            Wellesley took a 10-5 lead on ace from first-year Becca Aristotelidis (San Antonio, Texas) early in the first set. The Blue extended the advantage to 16-9, but five straight points from the Huskies cut the visitor's deficit to two, at 16-14.  Southern Maine continued to hang around late in the set, but couldn't rally past the Blue, as a 20-18 lead turned into a 23-18 advantage, before Wellesley eventually ended the set, 25-20, on a kill from Gedney.

            Southern Maine broke a 10-10 tie midway through set two, using a 7-1 run to take a 17-11 advantage.  The Blue rallied back with an 8-1 run of their own to take a 19-18 lead.  The Huskies grabbed a 21-20 lead on a kill from senior Mo Raymond (Sanbornton, N.H.), but the Blue scored five of the final seven points in the set, capped by a kill from junior Samantha Ostenso (Hopkins, Minn.) to take a 25-23 win.

            The Blue carried the momentum into the final game, never trailing en route to a 25-15 victory. Wellesley opened the set on a 10-2 run, later extending the lead to 20-10 on a block from first-year Nikki Jensen (Castro Valley, Calif.) and Reece. Ostenso added the final kill again to secure the 3-0 sweep.

            Southern Maine heads home to host a tri-match on Saturday (12:00 p.m.) where they will host Eastern Connecticut State University and the University of Maine-Presque Isle.  Wellesley will close out the regular season with a non-conference tri-match on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) at Framingham State.  Wellesley will play Westfield State and the host Rams.

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