Williamstown, MA - Coming off a pair of tough losses the previous weekend, Williams College (10-3) sought to get back on track against Vassar College (8-7), and the Ephs took care of business by winning 3-0.
Vassar won the first point of the third set, but that would be the only lead they held for the remainder of the set as Williams controlled the action from start to finish. A smash directly off an overpass for senior
Caroline Tosolini made it 10-6 for Williams, and a powerful kill from first year
Keely Campuzano re-established a four point lead for the Ephs at 12-8. Although the Brewers trimmed the deficit to 14-13, the Ephs responded with a 4-0 run, capped off by a kill courtesy of sophomore
Sydney Eyestone. The Brewers never got closer than within three points for the remainder of the set. A Vassar service error ended the third set 25-19 in favor of Williams.
The first set featured some back-and-forth action between the two teams, and the Ephs used consecutive kills from senior
Celia Adams to tie the action at 8-8 after trailing early on. Although Williams lost the next two points, they turned around and won five in a row, culminating in a service ace from
Celia Adams to make it 13-10 for the Ephs. The Brewers battled and won some tough points to stay in the set, Williams surged late and forced a late Vassar timeout after an ace from senior
Lauren Kauppila at 23-16. From there, the Ephs picked up their last two points from Vassar errors and clinched the first set 25-17.
Even though the Ephs lost the first two points of the second set, they quickly brushed this off to win seven of the next nine points and set up a 7-4 advantage. However, three consecutive kills from Vassar's first year Holland Kaplan got the Brewers right back into the set. From there the Ephs were able to maintain a small degree of separation from their opponents, but the Brewers called a timeout when Williams went up 19-14 with a kill from senior
Marit Hoyem. Vassar responded well initially to pull back within two points at 21-19,
Celia Adams racked up three kills in a row to end any threat of a comeback, and Williams emerged victorious in the second set 25-19.
Vassar leaders were: Holland Kaplan with 9 kills, junior Molly Ardren with 16 assists, and sophomore Ellie Kogan with 10 digs. Williams leaders were:
Celia Adams with 14 kills,
Lauren Kauppila with 33 assists, and
Celia Adams with 11 digs.
Reflecting on the bounce-back performance from her team, Eph head coach
Christi Kelsey commented, "I'm really proud of how our team took the time and reflected on what we could do to grow and get better from this past weekend and apply it to tonight's match. We had two great practices leading up to today and I think it's a huge testament to all 17 of our team members for how much they really took on this challenge of how to get better together. We executed well tonight, made some great in match adjustments and overall had a lot of thoughtful energy, focus, and support for each other. Looking forward to another NESCAC weekend coming up!"
Williams will be back in action at home on Friday, October 6th when they take on No. 14 Wesleyan University at 7:00 PM EST in Chandler Gymnasium.
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