Clinton, NY.-- This one stings a little bit. In their final regular season match of the year the Ephs were unable to put it all together against the Middlebury Panthers, falling in frustrating fashion 3-1 (25-15, 18-25, 25-17, 25-22). Combined with other NESCAC results in the final weekend of conference play the Ephs have been awarded the sixth seed in the upcoming NESCAC tournament, to be held next weekend at top seeded Amherst.
The loss is made all the more frustrating because of how much the Ephs did well in the match. Their offense, having struggled for the previous few matches, came alive with a vengeance, tattooing the Middlebury defense to the tune of 52 kills against only 15 errors. Senior co-captain Kate Anderson would lead all hitters with 22 kills, averaging 5.5 kills per set and an attack average of .268.
Over two matches this weekend Anderson would average a phenomenal 5.22 kills per set despite the two close losses the team suffered. Anderson would be ably backed up by classmates and co-captains Nicole Ballon-Landa and Eleanor Levine, who added in an additional 12 and 8 kills respectively. Levine would have a stellar plus/minus of +8, committing no hitting errors in the match while Ballon-Landa finish with a lofty .409 attack average.
The Ephs' shortcomings, however, came on serve receive, and, to a lesser extent on defense. The team would keep things close in set one, erasing a short-lived Middlebury lead to knot the score at 11-11. A 4-0 Middlebury serving run, however, would push their advantage to 15-11 and the Panthers would not look back, closing out the victory 25-15 behind some more tough serving and heavy hitting.
Williams would respond in set two, as a clutch serving run by Levine would allow them to take an early 7-4 lead. Tough serving by sophomore Mika Nakashige, providing a spark off the bench for the Ephs, would allow the team to push the lead to 11-6. Driving forward deeper into the set the team would refuse to give up the advantage, their offense firing on all cylinders. Ably led by senior setter and co-captain Emily Avis (36 assists) the team was able to close out the 25-18 victory.
Middlebury was able to sneak out to a 9-6 lead in the tense opening points of set three, and despite Williams' best efforts they were able to maintain this lead deep into the set, stretching the lead to 5 points at 19-14. The Williams defense, despite often putting up a strong block (6 total blocks in the match) would seemingly disappear at times, or worse get tooled out of bounds. Despite the effort of sophomore defensive specialist Lauren Agoubi (12 digs) and junior libero Aly McKinnon (11 digs) the Ephs were unable to fight back and make the set competitive, succumbing to the 25-17 loss.
In the fourth, and ultimately deciding, set a stuff block by Ballon-Landa gave the Ephs an early 8-6 lead, which they would hold, but not extend into greater security. Credit must be given to Middlebury for not giving up on the match, and gamely fighting the entire way, being rewarded for their effort by tying the set at 17-17. With the Panthers taking a 22-19 lead, and with their backs up against the wall once again, the Ephs would launch one more desperate rally trying to find their way back into the match. The team, though, despite closing the gap to just one point at 23-22 would fall bitterly short in their comeback bid, dropping the set 25-22.
The Ephs have now dropped 4 NESCAC matches on the season, falling in three of them in 5 sets and once, against Middlebury, in 4. Even in the Middlebury match the team could easily have, and should have, pushed ahead into the fifth set. All of these tight losses bode extremely well for the Ephs' chances in the upcoming NESCAC tournament, as no conference team has escaped the regular season unblemished.
The Ephs will have a favorable draw in the tournament, on the opposite side of the bracket from first seeded Amherst and from perennial foe Tufts. They open tourney play against Bowdoin Friday at 8 p.m.
