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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA- In one of the most anticipated matches
of the season, the Williams College volleyball team (16-11, 3-3)
fell to conference rival Amherst College (17-4, 6-1) Tuesday night,
3-1 (16-25, 20-25, 25-21, 17-25). The match marked the second
consecutive NESCAC defeat and the first home loss of the season for
the Ephs. After losing only one conference match the past two
years, the Ephs now find themselves with three defeats in six
chances against the NESCAC this season.
"This was the first time in a long time that I've seen a
Williams team not come out and strongly compete with Amherst," said
head coach Fran Vandermeer. "You need to be mentally tough to
go into your rivals gym and perform at a high level. Amherst
did just that and we did not respond to the challenge."
For the second consecutive match, the Ephs stumbled out of the
gate and could not create any momentum early on. In the first
set, the Lord Jeffs were able to capitalize on the slow start of
their opponent and easily capture the set. The second set was
not much different, as the Lord Jeffs jumped out to an early lead
and then held off a late Eph surge to go up 2-0.
The third set was all Ephs early as they jumped out to leads of
5-0 and 9-5. The Lord Jeffs would battle back however, as the
lead went back and forth for most of the set. With the set
tied at 18, the Ephs were able to channel the energy of the big
crowd into a solid rally to close out the set. The momentum
would be short lived, as the Lord Jeffs again jumped out to a huge
16-7 lead en route to the decisive NESCAC victory.
Before the match, the Ephs honored their only senior, Riki
McDermott, with a ceremony to commemorate her last regular season
home match. The two-time captain from Manhatten Beach,
California came into the match with a career record of 87-38 and
currently sits tenth on Williams all-time career digs.
Despite the loss, McDermott posted 13 digs on the night.
Sophomore Kate Anderson led the Ephs with 14 kills to go along
with two blocks, while first year Aly McKinnon posted an impressive
26 digs. Sophomores Nicole Ballon-Landa and Eleanor Levine
were strong at the net, posting three blocks and nine kills each.
The Ephs now look to move forward with the Hall of Fame
Tournament hosted by Smith before closing the regular season out
with four consecutive NESCAC matches.
