Williams Volleyball Defeated by Brandeis in Four Sets in Season Opener

Williamstown, MA - In their season opener, Williams College (0-1) hosted Brandeis University (4-1). Williams battled hard, but in the end fell to Brandeis in four sets.

Williams opened the fourth set with a 5-4 lead, helped by a service ace by junior Marit Hoyem. However, the Judges were able to win six out of the next seven points, forcing a Williams timeout with Brandeis leading 10-6. Consecutive kills by senior Christina Conforti, accompanied by service aces from junior Lauren Kauppila and sophomore Sidra Wohlwend, led the Ephs to retake the lead at 14-13, pressuring Brandeis to take a timeout of their own. Brandeis was able to control the rest of the set, however, which culminated in a 25-21 win, securing the match for the Judges. 

In the first set in a rowdy Chandler Gymnasium, Williams fell behind early, with Brandeis' biggest lead coming at 18-11. However, the Ephs rallied to win 9 out of the next 12 points, closing the gap to one point at 21-20. Brandeis then knocked out three quick points to lead 24-20, setting up four set points. However, Williams came back with five straight points to take their first lead of the match at 25-24. Three points later, an emphatic kill from junior Celia Adams sealed the first set for Williams, 27-25.

In similar fashion to the first set, the Judges stormed out to an early lead. However, Williams slowly clawed their way back with some powerful kills from Christina Conforti and a smart tip by Marit Hoyem, finally tying the game at 18-18 behind a kill from Celia Adams. The set remained close from there on out, but Brandeis was able to surge at the end to win the second set 25-23.

Flipping the script of the first two sets, this time Williams jumped out to an early lead of 8-1, with two quick Brandeis timeouts doing little to slow the Ephs' momentum. However, the Judges were able to erase the deficit, taking the lead at 14-13 after a net error by Williams. The set continued in a back-and-forth manner with neither side able to establish a rhythm until the end, when Brandeis was able to pull away and win the set 25-21.

Brandeis leaders were: graduate student Sydney Bent with 16 kills, junior Ines Grom-Mansencal with 36 assists, and Ines Grom-Mansencal with 23 digs. Williams leaders were: Christina Conforti with 14 kills, Lauren Kauppila with 23 assists, and Sidra Wohlwend with 20 digs.

Eph head coach Christi Kelsey reflected, "There were some good things for match one, and it's certainly a tough one to have, to start with a loss, but I think that as a coach there were a lot of learning moments for us that we needed. I'd certainly like to get those learning moments and have a different outcome, but I think there were a lot of things that were good in the moment but just inconsistent. So if we can focus on trying to execute a little better and be more consistent, then we'll do some great things this year, but tonight was a tough one." 

Williams is back in action at 11:00 AM EST on Saturday, September 10th when they travel to face Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY at the Union Invitational.