Williams Falls to No. 8 NYU In Round of Sweet 16

Middletown, CT - Williams College (16-9) took on No. 8 New York University (28-6) in the third round of the NCAA tournament. Although the Ephs were able to win the first set, they lost the next three and bowed out of the NCAA tournament after their best performance in eight years.

Williams was able to maintain a slim lead for most of the first half of the fourth set, with a powerful kill from junior Marit keeping the Ephs ahead at 11-10. However, this was the last lead Williams would hold during this match, as NYU soon gained the momentum and never let up, ending the set on a 9-2 run to secure the fourth and final set 25-16. 

In the first set Williams got off to a fast start, establishing an early 6-2 lead. The Violets eventually came back and tied the set up several times, but were unable to take the lead until a service ace made it 12-11 for NYU. However, the Ephs proceeded on a 5-0 run to set up a 17-13 advantage, thanks in large part to two service aces from junior Lauren Kauppila. Although the Violets narrowed the deficit to one point several times, Williams never relinquished their lead and won the set 25-22 after back to back powerful kills from junior Marit Hoyem. 

This time it was NYU that started off the second set well, racing out to an early 9-4 advantage, forcing the Ephs into taking a timeout. Even though Williams made up a little bit of ground, they were never quite able to get into a rhythm during the set, as NYU continued to build up their cushion and won the third set 25-16 after a kill from sophomore Olivia Lewandowski. 

The third set was back and forth early on, as neither team was able to separate and build a big lead. This ended when the Violets used a 5-1 run to turn a slim 8-7 lead into a much larger 13-8 advantage, and NYU never looked back from there. Although Williams got back to back strong kills from seniors Anna Tosolini and Christina Conforti to narrow the deficit to 20-16, NYU ended the set on another 5-1 run to claim the third set 25-17.

NYU leaders were: senior Haley Holz with 19 kills, first year Ava Launsbach with 23 assists, and sophomore Lindsey Hirano with 19 digs. Williams leaders were: Marit Hoyem with 12 kills, Lauren Kauppila with 22 assists, and sophomore Sidra Wohlwend with 20 digs.  

After the match, Eph head coach Christi Kelsey commented, "The match today was a tough one. We started off really great in the first set but credit to NYU as they made some great adjustments and we just couldn't find any momentum again for the rest of the match. Even though we would've liked to have a different outcome today, there is so much to celebrate this season. This has been a special crew from day 1 of preseason and I'm grateful to all nineteen members of our team for showing up each and every day with great enthusiasm and a sincere drive to want to make our team better. It really was cool to see how much they believed in where we could go as a team and most importantly how much they genuinely loved and enjoyed playing for one another. I want to say a special thank you to our six seniors, Renee, Kiley, Gracie, Morgan, Anna, and Christina, for all that they have given to our volleyball family. They really have invested so much over these past four years and to end this year with such an amazing run is an incredible gift for them to close out their careers."