Schenectady, NY – Behind the intelligent serving of senior
Lydia Kurtz and a diversified attack approach, Williams College (1-0) conducted a continuous comeback throughout the second set to defeat Union College (2-4) 3-0 in the Ephs season opener..
Early in the second set, Union led Williams 6-1, and the Ephs struggled to piece together runs. This set proved to be an upward battle, but dynamic play from sophomore
Marit Hoyem and the utilization of the Union block allowed Williams to slowly chip away at Union's lead. With persistent play and high energy, Williams took the lead 21-20 and proceeded to surge to a 25-22 victory.
In the first set after 673 days without competition, Williams opened with some nerves but strong play. Williams employed 6 returners to set the tone, and this proved to be successful as the Ephs emerged victorious 25-17.
Returner experience from senior
Allison Frison and senior
Alicia Blanco helped Williams maintain dynamic play and opened multiple opportunities for all attackers.
Williams maintained a strong lead throughout the third set. The Ephs settled into an attack rhythm and posted a .452 team hitting percentage in this set.
Marit Hoyem and junior
Kiley Wallace were instrumental in finding the holes in the Union defense. Williams controlled this set and cruised to a 25-10 victory, earning the sweep of Union College.
The leaders for Union were: sophomore Keara Page with 5 kills, junior Haley Kresch with 13 assists, and sophomore Meredith Blinn with 10 digs. The Williams, leaders were:
Kiley Wallace with 12 kills, sophomore
Lauren Kauppila with 33 assists, and junior
Christina Conforti with 13 digs
.
Williams was excited to return to action, and head coach
Christi Kelsey reflected, "First and foremost, it was a real honor to be back on the court again. To see the joy and excitement from our team to play together was a special moment. Overall, it was a good starting place for our season with some real highlights from everyone. We learned a lot about ourselves and are looking forward to another opportunity to play again tomorrow!"
To close out the Union Invitational, Williams will play two matches on Saturday, September 10
th. Williams will first battle Skidmore College at 10 AM EST and Suffolk University at 2 PM EST to close out paly in the 2021 Union Invitational.
