The Williams College Ephs did not drop a set as they played host
to Colby, Bates, and Hamilton in the NESCAC Weekend. Coming
off a victory over Colby College last night, the Ephs came away
with two 3 set victories on Saturday afternoon, defeating Bates
College 25-22, 25-13, 25-17; and Hamilton College 25-23, 25-20,
25-21.
In the first contest of the afternoon, the Ephs rolled to a
three set victory over the Bates College Bobcats (6-11, 1-5
NESCAC). The opening set was closely contested as both teams
fought back-and–forth. Williams was eventually able to
pull away, winning the set 25-22.
Following the tight first set victory, the Ephs settled down and
were able to win the last two sets convincingly. In the
second stanza, five straight service points off the hand of senior
Emily Avis
aided the Ephs as they upped the score to 2-0 with a 25-13 set
victory.
The Ephs and the Bobcats exchanged points to open the third
set. For a while, neither team was able to pull away and take
command of the set. That would change going down the stretch
as the Ephs surged ahead taking the set by a score of 25-17.
Williams was led by first-year Emily Doll's 10
kills. Additionally, Emily Avis has a great afternoon as she
came away 32 assists and 15 digs. Senior Kate Anderson
added 15 digs of her own for the victorious Ephs.
After the contest, Coach Kelsey noted that she was especially
please with how her team was able to rebound in the final two sets
after a slow start. She said, "We started off slowly, but we
did a great job of rebounding in the second set." She went of
to say, "this match was an excellent team effort. All the girls
contributed to the win over a solid Bates team."
In the second match of the afternoon, Coach Kelsey's Ephs
battled the Hamilton Continentals (8-9, 0-6 NESCAC) to a very close
three set victory. Five points or less decided each set on the
afternoon.
Once again, Emily Avis led the Ephs with 39 assists. Emily
Baratta had 13 digs to lead Williams, while Kate Anderson chipped
in with 12. In all, it was another phenomenal team effort for
the Ephs.
Coach Kelsey was very pleased with how the weekend went for the
Ephs, "anytime you can come away with three NESCAC wins in a
weekend you are doing pretty well." She went on to say, "It
was a great way to honor our four seniors who have given so much to
this program."
Looking forward to next weekend when the Ephs take on Tufts and
Bowdoin, Kelsey remarked, "we have a tough road ahead, but I am
looking forward to seeing us rise up to the challange."
In the morning match, Colby defeated Hamilton in 4 sets.
The two victories bring the Ephs record to 5-1 in the NESCAC and
they sit at 15-6 on the season. The Ephs will be back in
action on Friday, October 15th when they travel to
Medford, MA to take on the Jumbos of Tufts University.
