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MEFORD, MA- The Williams College volleyball team (25-12)
rode a late season nine-match winning streak all the way to a
NESCAC championship Sunday afternoon. For the second straight
year, the Ephs defeated Amherst for the title in the thrilling 3-1
(25-18, 20-25, 25-12, 25-21) match.
"I said yesterday how proud I was and today I am even more proud,"
said head coach Fran Vandermeer. "We battled adversity this
year and this team persevered. We learned a lot as the season
went on and put it together at the right time."
The Ephs grabbed the momentum early in the match with an
impressive run to end the first set. Trailing 18-16, Williams
scored nine consecutive points to not only erase the deficit, but
also take the set. Trailing 16-11 in the second set, the Ephs
were able to get even at 16-16 and grab some momentum before
eventually dropping the set.
The third set was intense early as both squads traded off points
to a 7-7 tie and an Amherst timeout. From that point on, it
was all Williams, as the Ephs rallied to leads of 14-8 and
17-10. By the time Amherst used its second timeout, the Ephs
held a seven-point advantage and never looked back.
This set up the match's decisive fourth set. The Ephs, who
could sense a NESCAC title, came out to an early 10-5 lead when
Amherst took its first timeout. The pause in the action did
not faze the Ephs, as they traded points and forced Amhert's final
timeout with an 18-12 lead.
The Lord Jeffs would not quit, however, as a 21-15 lead turned
into just 22-20. In the end, the Ephs were just too much as
for the second straight match sophomore Kate Anderson clinched the
victory with the last of her 17 kills.
"Our defense, block, and court presence have improved so much over
the past three weeks and it was our key to success," said
Vandermeer. "We had unwavering leadership from captains Riki
[McDermott] and Chelsea [Kubal] and they kept our team strong all
year. We have kids who trust each other, love each other, and
play hard for each other on every point."
The keys to victory for the Ephs were the defense and the play at
the net. Junior Whitney Hitchcock registered an amazing 15
blocks, to go along with 5 kills. Junior Melissa Pun
continued her defensive success with 24 digs.
On offense, sophomores Anderson (17 kills, 7 blocks) and Nicole
Ballon-Landa (17 kills, 2 aces) ended their tournaments with very
impressive numbers. That very offense, that worked so well
all tournament, was orchestrated by sophomore Emily Avis who added
47 assists to go along with 10 digs and 3 blocks.
Rounding out the numbers for the NESCAC champion Ephs were senior
Riki McDermott (7 digs), junior Chelsea Kubal (4 kills, 4 digs),
sophomore Eleanor Levine (4 kills, 2 blocks), and first year Aly
McKinnon (10 digs).
"I am so proud of this team," said McDermott. "We overcame
ever obstacle all season long and we came out on top."
The championship magic was not limited to the Tufts gymnasium as
news of volleyball championship ignited the crowd at Williams in
the NESCAC women's soccer championship where Williams and Amherst
were battling in overtime. Minutes later the Ephs grabbed
their second NESCAC title of the day with a thrilling victory.
The Ephs now await their next opponent in the opening round of the
NCAA tournament, next weekend hosted by Tufts.
