Saratoga Springs, NY - Williams College (2-1) departed the Skidmore Invitational with two wins, defeating Skidmore College (0-5) 3-0 and Union College (4-2) 3-1.
In their first match of the day, Williams earned a sweep over Skidmore. In the third set, the Ephs jumped out to an early 9-3 lead behind a combined five service aces from juniors Marit Hoyem and Lauren Kauppila. Soon after, back to back kills from senior Christina Conforti forced the Thoroughbreds to take a timeout with Williams leading 13-5. The timeout did little to slow Williams' momentum, however, and the Ephs dominated the rest of the set en route to a 25-12 set, claiming a 3-0 match win.
In the first set, Williams got off to a relatively slow start with the two teams evenly matched through the first half of the set. However, down 15-14, the Ephs were able to flip a switch, winning eleven of the next fifteen points thanks to multiple powerful kills from both junior Celia Adams and first year Helen Qian. Williams secured the first set win 25-19 with a service ace by sophomore Sidra Wohlwend.
Williams stormed out to an early lead, with quality serving from senior Gracie Guidotti keying a 6-0 run. From there, the Ephs never let off the gas pedal, with consecutive emphatic kills from senior Morgan Persky keeping Williams on track. The Ephs used an all-around team performance to close out the set on a 14-3 run, highlighted by four kills from Celia Adams that helped Williams to a 25-8 set victory.
Skidmore leaders were: first year Maya Stolarz with 6 kills, junior Noa Berger with 8 assists, and junior Carolyn Scott with 6 digs. Williams leaders were: Celia Adams with 7 kills, Lauren Kauppila with 18 assists, and Sidra Wohlwend with 13 digs.
In their second match of the day, Williams took on Union College and came away with a 3-1 win. Union continued their momentum from the third set, getting out to an early 10-7 lead. After that though, the Ephs battled back hard, winning eleven of the next twelve points to build their own 18-11 lead. This impressive run included multiple kills from three different Ephs, and was capped off by an impressive swing off an overpass by Celia Adams. From there, Williams was able to maintain a comfortable lead for the rest of the set, clinching the match at 25-17 with a powerful slide kill from Marit Hoyem.
The first set between Williams and Union started out a back-and-forth affair, with four lead changes and six ties in the first thirteen points. However, a string of good serves from Lauren Kauppila helped the Ephs open up a five point lead, pressuring the Dutchwomen into a timeout at 12-7. After that, three kills from Marit Hoyem helped Williams maintain a small cushion over Union, with a powerful swing from Celia Adams clinching a 25-18 set victory.
The second set also started out close, with the two teams splitting the first twelve points. However, the Ephs slowly built up a lead, making Union call a timeout with Williams up 20-14. The Ephs continued to push on, however, with a total of eight kills from Marit Hoyem keying them to a 25-16 set win.
In the third set, the Ephs jumped out to an early 11-4 lead, racking up five straight kills at one point, including an intelligent dump from Lauren Kauppila. The Dutchwomen were able to rally though, and regained the lead at 15-14. Union was able to just hold on to that lead for the remainder of the set, securing a 25-22 set win for the Dutchwomen, forcing a fourth set.
Union leaders were: first year Shannon McGrath with 13 kills, senior Haley Kresch with 14 assists, and sophomore Kirsten Litchfield with 16 digs. Williams leaders were:
Marit Hoyem with 24 kills,
Lauren Kauppila with 27 assists, and
Sidra Wohlwend with 16 digs.
Eph head coach Christi Kelsey reflected on the weekend, "I'm really proud of how our team responded today to pick up two wins. We definitely took some of the lessons we learned about our skill execution and overall style of play from last night and implemented that into our court presence and focus today. Everyone had a chance to contribute to our opening weekend and we are excited about the potential growth of this team together!"
The Ephs' next match will be at Vassar College on Wednesday, September 14th, beginning at 7:30 PM EST.
