Photo Gallery
Williamstown, Mass. – In game one of this weekend's two-day NESCAC tournament, the Williams College volleyball team (11-7) was defeated by Bowdoin 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 22-25, 23-25, 8-15). After taking the first two sets from the current NESCAC conference leaders, the Ephs were unable to hold on to their lead and lost three straight games.
Despite the loss, head coach Christie Kelsey praised her team's efforts, saying that "we played some of the best volleyball that we've played all year tonight. As a team, we're working on closing out the big matches, and tonight was a big match. Bowdoin is a great team. It takes consistency to beat a team that plays that well."
Consistent offense put the Ephs to a comfortable head start early on in game one. The Polar Bears were quick to retaliate, coming back from a five-point deficit to tie the game at 16. The teams battled point for point until Williams regained its momentum and topped Bowdoin 25-23, thanks in part to a few well-placed attacks by sophomore Emily Doll.
Coming off of wins in the first and second sets, the Ephs trailed the Polar Bears 0-5 in set three. Simple errors and mistakes on both sides of the net brought the score to 3-8, but freshman Claire Miller (16 kills, 21 digs) changed the momentum of the game with a much needed kill. Fellow Ephs junior Haley Eagon and freshman Raea Rasmussen contributed multiple kills, but were unable to stop Bowdoin from taking the set 22-25. A win for Bowdoin in game four brought the match to game five, which saw the Polar Bears outdo the valiant Ephs 8-15.
Standout performers for the Ephs were freshman Amanda Schott (40 assists, 21 digs) and senior Aly McKinnon (19 digs), who was honored tonight for her four-year commitment to the team. McKinnon has totaled 1,142 career digs and 108 service aces, and was a member of the 2008 and 2009 Williams teams that captured consecutive NESCAC tournament titles.
Leading the stats for Bowdoin were senior Kristin Hanczor (17 kills), senior Jillian Berkman (14 digs), junior Tory Edelman (12 kills, 4 aces), sophomore Taylor Vail (19 digs), and sophomore Sophia Cornew (54 assists).
Tomorrow Williams plays a double-header, facing Bates at 11am and Colby at 1:30pm. Bowdoin will play against Hamilton at 1:30pm.
