Williamstown, MA – Williams College (12-4) faced Springfield College (19-5) for the second matchup of the New England Challenge. Springfield took the four set victory over Williams.
The fourth set again saw an early breakaway from Springfield, instigated by first year Kylie Wixted. However, Williams junior
Christina Conforti led the charge to push the Ephs back into the set with three kills and two double blocks joined by sophomore
Marit Hoyem, narrowing the Springfield lead to 16-14. The Pride responded with a kill from graduate student Camryn Bancroft and a 6-0 run to curb Williams' momentum, giving Springfield the lead 22-15. Williams was unable to mount a comeback, and Springfield took the fourth set, 25-17.
For the first set of the day, Springfield and Williams were evenly matched, and neither team was able to string together a large run. Early set play was highlighted by Springfield first year Jamie Albrecht attacking from both pins and Williams first year
Tazmin Appiah operating with the quick set out of the middle. The turning point did not come until late in the set after a Williams service error and a kill from Springfield's Camryn Bancroft. This gave Springfield the lead 20-18. Although Williams found open court and was highlighted by a double block from first year
Catherine Vermeullen and
Marit Hoyem, the Ephs were only able to narrow the Springfield gap to one point. Springfield pushed to the set victory, 25-22.
Early in the second set, Williams built a lead behind the service arm of senior
Lydia Kurtz to lead 10-6. This lead unsettled the Springfield offense as they were unable to string together a run. After a kill from Eph
Christina Conforti, Williams went on a 5-0 run, expanding their lead to 16-9. Springfield rallied with an offensive attack from Jamie Albrecht, Camryn Bancroft, and first year Natalie Billet, narrowing the Williams lead to 2 points and forcing an Eph timeout. After the timeout, Eph
Lydia Kurtz fired a kill followed by a deep roll shot from
Tazmin Appiah, and Williams surged to the victory, 25-21.
In the third set, Springfield opened with a 5-0 lead led by the serving of junior Claire Dorr. Williams found themselves in a deficit and needed to rejuvenate a strong offensive attack and find consistent play. The Ephs slowly chipped away at the lead but were unable to regenerate extensive runs until a kill from
Tazmin Appiah gave Williams the ball and narrowed the Springfield lead to 20-16. This sent Eph
Lydia Kurtz back to the service line, and Williams played together to narrow the Springfield lead to one point. The Pride took a timeout and won the next point on a kill from Natalie Billet, holding the momentum. A decisive kill from Eph
Marit Hoyem sent Eph junior
Gracie Guidotti to the service line, where Williams tied the set at 23-23. However, Springfield capitalized on a kill from Kylie Wixted and claimed the set 25-23.
Springfield leaders were: Jamie Albrecht and Camryn Bancroft with 13 kills each, senior Sara Labadorf with 37 assists, and Sara Labadorf with 16 digs. Williams leaders were: junior
Anna Tosolini with 11 kills,
Gracie Guidotti and sophomore
Lauren Kauppila with 19 assists each, and first year
Sidra Wohlwend with 21 digs.
Eph head coach
Christi Kelsey commented, "There's some highlights in how we played, but going into this afternoon's matchup, we will make some technical and mentality adjustments to bounce back."
Williams will conclude the New England Challenge with a matchup against MIT at 3:30 EST on Saturday, October 23
rd.
