After falling to the No. 1 Wesleyan Cardinals (21-1, 10-0 NESCAC) in the NESCAC Championship on Nov. 11, volleyball (16-9, 4-5 NESCAC) earned an at-large bid to compete in the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive year. The selection follows a strong performance in the NESCAC Tournament, where the Ephs upset the No. 4 Tufts Jumbos (14-10, 6-4 NESCAC) en route to the title game.
The Ephs bested the Jumbos in the semifinals on Nov. 10, avenging their loss during the regular season. Though the teams traded leads in all three sets, the Ephs swept 3-0 and secured an appearance in the championship game.
Morgan Daetz ’27 said that facing Tufts earlier in the season was a strategic advantage. “Going into it, we knew what we had to do — Tufts is a big opponent,” Daetz said. “We played them earlier in the season. [We] couldn’t pull that one off, but a lot of our hard work in practice definitely paid off.”
Sidra Wohlwend ’25 echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that the team was motivated by its desire to beat Tufts the second time around. “We had such a tough loss against [Tufts],” she said. “We really had the sense of revenge that we wanted to just come into the court [and] execute really well.”
Co-captain Lauren Kauppila ’24, who ended the third set against Tufts with a powerful ace, commended the Ephs’ strong game play in all three sets. “We served tough and continued to get them out of system, and our passing allowed us to diversify and run pace in our offense,” Kauppila wrote in an email to the Record. “[It was some] of the best volleyball this team has played this season.”
In the championship, the Ephs fell short to Wesleyan in a competitive three-set game. The Ephs started off strong in the first set of the match with an ace by Kauppila. Two strong kills from Annaliese Fricke ’26 contributed to an early lead of 7-4, which quickly changed to a tie after Wesleyan scored three consecutive points. Following a powerful kill from Marit Hoyem ’24, Fricke hit four kills, bringing the Ephs only a point behind the Cardinals.
[Editor’s note: Hoyem is an editor-at-large for the Record and was not involved in the writing or editing of this piece.]
The Cardinals quickly advanced in all three sets despite the Ephs’ efforts to come back. After a 7-2 streak in the first set, Wesleyan managed to take its largest lead. The Ephs fought their way back with a 22-22 score, which was broken by Wesleyan after scoring the three points of the last four and ended the set 25-23.
Though the Ephs dominated at the beginning of the second set, the Cardinals came back to make up the deficit, winning 25-17.
Despite the loss, Daetz expressed pride in the team’s appearance in the title game — its first since 2015. “It was a big milestone for us to reach, because we hadn’t made it to the NESCAC Finals in a while… It was a big accomplishment,” she said.
Wohlwend, who led the Ephs against Wesleyan with 10 digs, emphasized the team’s dedication to working on fundamentals before the national tournament. “We have a good mindset going into our next practices, and [we’re] watching film and restructuring what we’re doing,” Wolhwend said.
Celia Adams ’24 and Hoyem have been named First Team All-NESCAC honorees for the second consecutive year by a vote of the conference coaches in the NESCAC. Previously, Hoyem earned Second Team All-NESCAC recognition and the 2022 NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year title.
The Ephs will open their run in the NCAA tournament against Salisbury University (20-7) in the eight-team regional hosted by MIT in Cambridge, Mass., on Nov. 16 to 18. According to Wolhwend, the team is eager to return stronger for the matchup.
“We’re really looking forward to bouncing back after a tough loss against Wesleyan,” she said. “We definitely have a positive mindset as a team going into it.”
