CAMBRIDGE, MA- The Williams College women's volleyball
team (9-1, 2-0) came from behind to take the final three games
against Vassar College 3-2 (26-30, 25-30, 32-30, 30-18, 15-10) and
win Pool C at the MIT Invitational. Williams defeated Smith
College 3-0 (30-21, 30-28, 30-19) earlier in the day to set up the
exciting match that now sends the Ephs into the Saturday's
semifinals.
"This is a great gut check and come from behind victory for this
team," said head coach Fran Vandermeer. "It was all heart and
out working our opponent on defense down the stretch."
With starting first year setter Emily Avis out with an
injury, senior captain Liz Hirschhorn stepped up for the
Ephs. Hirschhorn led the high paced Eph offense by posting 35
assists and 10 digs. First years Eleanor Levine (7 kills, 3
blocks), Nicole Ballon-Landa (6 kills, 3 blocks) and Kate Anderson
(9 kills), and sophomore Whitney Hitchcock (9 kills, 2 blocks) also
posted strong offensive numbers.
On defense, junior captain Riki McDermott (9 digs) along with
sophomores Melissa Pun (10 digs, 5 kills), Alisha Cahlan (8 digs),
Chelsea Kubal (10 digs), and Andrea Scioscia (10 digs) were
efficient in the 3-0 match.
"Liz [Hirschhorn] was our unsung hero in the first match," said
Vandermeer. "She was an awesome quarterback and setter for
this team."
The Ephs would have a much more difficult time in the
nightcap. Facing a defeat and early exit in the tournament,
the Ephs were able to prevail in a hard fought third game, 32-30.
The Ephs would complete the comeback by sweeping the final
two games, earning themselves a spot in the tournament's final
four.
Leading the charge in the Vassar match was last year's NESCAC
rookie of the year, Pun. Playing setter, Pun posted 43
assists to go along with 16 digs, 6 kills, 2 blocks, and 3 service
aces. A major contributor, as well, was Hitchcock, who
tallied 11 digs, 8 kills, and 2 service aces.
"Whitney [Hitchcock] found a way to put the ball away when we
needed her to," said Vandermeer. "Melissa [Pun] was really
solid in both matches."
McDermott (24 digs), Scioscia (23 digs), Kubal (27 digs, 7
kills), and Levine (21 digs, 3 blocks, 5 kills) were key
contributors in the Ephs stellar defense in the final three
games. Cahlan (13 kills), Ballon-Landa (13 kills, 5 blocks),
and Anderson (4 kills) led the offense down the stretch and helped
secure the Ephs another match tomorrow.
"Today we just had two good team wins with everybody chipping in
a lot of different ways," said Vandermeer.
The Ephs will now face host MIT in the semifinals tomorrow at 12
PM. Depending on the results, the Ephs will either play in
the championship match against the winner of Wellesley and Tufts or
in the third place match later in the day. MIT will go into
tomorrow's match with a record of 12-1 after winning Pool A.
The Ephs have already posted victories this season over both
Wellesley and Tufts.
