Box Score Williamstown, MA—The Bowdoin College Polar Bears (23-8) entered the semi-round of the Williamstown, Mass. Regional with a 3-2 win over the MIT Engineers (28-6), 25-20, 20-25, 25-15, 25-21, 15-13. Bowdoin will continue on tomorrow to the final round at 4pm against the winner of the match following.
The MIT engineers began the match with a 4-2 lead following several block-outs, but Bowdoin went on a 9-1 run thanks to attackers Christy Jewett and Michelle Albright, forcing a time-out from MIT at 10-5. Polar Bears Alli Davanzo and Hailey Wahl came back with a service ace each, but MIT fought back with swings from Jenny Astrachan and Meryl Gibbs, tying up the score at fourteens. The tied score rose to nineteens, and Bowdoin called a time-out when a kill by Engineer Astrachan upped MIT 20-19. Bowdoin's Jewett came back with two kills, pulling the Bears back to 22-20, and a service ace from Clare Geyer wrapped up the set for Bowdoin, 25-20.
The second set started with an 8-3 MIT lead after kills from Astrachan and Megan Gebhard, pressuring Bowdoin into time-out. Bowdoin pushed points with Jewett's service ace and Albright's swings, but a block from MIT's Jennie Glerum and several Polar Bear errors kept the point-deficit at 16-11. The Engineers broke twenty with the Polar Bears close behind, and smart net play set the score at 21-17. Two consecutive kills from Gebhard captured the second set for the Engineers, 25-20.
Bowdoin came back for the lead early in the third set, 6-1 thanks to quick attacks from Jewett and Erika Sklaver. Kills from Engineer Davanzo brought MIT close behind, but Bowdoin pushed their lead 17-9 with big blocks from Hailey Wahl and Sklaver. The Polar Bears doubled the score at twenty, and MIT fought with mean serves until a final kill by Jewett swept the third set, 25-15.
The score tied early 4-4 in the fourth set and persisted until MIT gained lead at 11-8. Bowdoin tied the score again at 12-12 with a tight kill by Jewett. The teams traded the lead, until a kill from Jennie Glerum put MIT at 19-16. Bowdoin called time-out at 21-17 after Engineer Gebhard smashed center court. Bowdoin pinched the point deficit to 24-21 with kills from Albright and Engineer errors. MIT's Gebhard earned the final cross-kill to secure the set 25-21.
The front rows traded quick attacks in the fifth set to MIT's advantage, 4-3, until Polar Bear Geyer pressed for a lead, 7-6. The teams switched sides when MIT earned side-out, 8-7, and a tied score persisted to 11-11. The Polar Bears pushed two kills from Jewett and Albright, taking lead 14-13, and an Engineer error gave Bowdoin the match, 15-13.
The Bowdoin Polar Bears were led outstandingly by Christy Jewett with a match-high 27 kills, and Erika Sklaver and Hailey Wahl with four blocks each. The court was defended by libero Katie Doherty and Michelle Albright, with 21 and 17 digs respectively.
Bowdoin head coach Karen Corey commented "we wanted to play our game. This was a match of serve and serve-receive."
Junior outside Christi Jewett agreed, "our middles went up every time, and when the setter set it, it was not going to be blocked."
The MIT Engineers were led by Megan Gebhard and Jenny Astrachan with 23 and 14 kills and by Alli Davanzo with 3 blocks. Defenders Tori Wuthrich, Jennie Glerum, and Lisette Tellez gathered 21, 15, and 14 digs each.
MIT coach Paul Dill said at the end of the match, "it was a difference of two points. We served aggressively and played the way we played all season."
Senior Jenny Astrachan added, "we battled the entire time."
The Polar Bears continue their 3rd NCAA appearance, playing in the final round tomorrow at 4pm in Chandler Gymnasium. MIT concludes their season with a 15-17 NCAA tournament record and 28-6 overall.
