Cambridge, MA - Williams College (16-10) took on Salisbury University (21-7) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Despite building a 2-0 set lead, the Ephs were unable to hold off a spirited comeback by the Sea Gulls and ultimately fell 3-2, ending the season for Williams.
The Ephs fell behind early in the deciding fifth set and were never able to quite get back on track as Salisbury won the first three points and later built an 8-4 lead heading into a timeout by Williams. Senior
Marit Hoyem got the Ephs back within two following a kill then ace in quick succession, but Salisbury surged to the finish line and closed out the fifth set with a 15-10 victory.
The Ephs trailed the Sea Gulls for much of the early portion of the first set. After being on the receiving end of an ace left them down 9-6, Williams was able to get some momentum started with a powerful hit by sophomore
Annaliese Fricke, her fourth kill so far. The Ephs later used a 10-3 run to seize control of the set, their lead being built up to 22-15 after a kill by first year
Keely Campuzano. From there the Ephs did not let up on the pressure, claiming a 25-18 first set victory thanks to a kill from first year
Tatum Baker. Williams put on an offensive masterclass in the set, recording 21 kills to only 3 attacking errors as
Annaliese Fricke led the way with 8 kills of her own.
The two teams battled back and forth in the second set, with neither team able to gain much separation until the end. First year
Tatum Baker capped off a 4-0 run with an ace for the Ephs, forcing Salisbury to call a timeout as they were suddenly down 14-10. Despite the Sea Gulls putting up a spirited fight, the Ephs put together two more 4-0 runs before the end of the set to keep them at bay. Williams won the second set 25-20 after an unfortunately timed service error from Salisbury.
The Ephs were forced to call a timeout early in the third set as Salisbury quickly built up a 10-5 advantage behind a powerful attacking front. Although the Sea Gulls extended their lead to 15-9, Williams quickly turned the set around by winning eleven of the next fourteen points. This run was bookended by a kill from
Marit Hoyem and an ace from first year
Morgan Daetz, and Salisbury was forced to call a timeout having watched their sizable lead evaporate. The Ephs readied a match point opportunity at 24-23, but they were unable to close out the set and Salisbury won the third set 26-24.
The Ephs built an early 4-2 lead in the fourth set, but never again led in the set after losing the next four points. Junior
Sidra Wohlwend got Williams back within one point down 8-7 with a service ace, and then
Morgan Daetz racked up consecutive aces to tie the score at 14-14, but in neither instance were the Ephs able to reclaim the advantage. Salisbury won the fourth set 25-21 after a service error from the Ephs.
Salisbury leaders were: sophomore Gwen Eustace with 15 kills, first year Julie Altieri with 40 assists, and senior Grace Rail with 19 digs. Williams leaders were:
Annaliese Fricke and
Marit Hoyem with 17 kills each, senior
Lauren Kauppila and
Morgan Daetz with 24 assists each, and
Sidra Wohlwend with 26 digs.
After the match, Eph head coach
Christi Kelsey commented, "Definitely a tough way to lose this one today. Our team played some amazing moments of our best volleyball of the year no doubt! To Salisbury's credit they hung in there and kept pushing us to eventually pull out the match.Â
Honestly, as a coach, you can't ask for much more from a team than what this 2023 crew put together. We learned a lot about ourselves from the very first day of pre-season and it was awesome to see us grow and keep aspiring to get better every week. I think it says a lot about this incredible group of women and their resiliency, their drive to improve, and most importantly the love and support they have shown each other throughout!
First I want to say a big thank you to our seniors, Lauren, Marit, Caroline and Celia. They have made such an impact on our volleyball family both on and off the court! They have also served as incredible role models in the care and investment they have made into our team and all parts of our volleyball family!
Second, would like to thank all our players for just how much they give to our program and each other every day! I am honored that all 17 show up committed to this family every day and they just make our job as coaches one of the best jobs in the world with who they are and what they mean to this program.
I also want to take a moment to say what a huge role our assistant coaches have played for our team this season. Coach Adam has been a phenomenal addition to our volleyball family and I'm incredibly grateful for the energy, enthusiasm and the care he put into helping make our program better every day! Also, a huge thank you to Coach Vanessa and Coach Madison for all the time they put into our program as well!
There are so many other people to thank like our trainer Yaz who has literally kept our team put together every day! Our equipment room staff in Amy and Rodney, sports information staff in DQ, Trevor and our amazing student writer Andre. Our strength and conditioning coaches, in Rob and Marshall, business office John and Jackie, facilities and operations team in Jill and Gillian, associate athletics directors in Tommy Verdell and Carolyn Miles, and our amazing faculty affiliate
Noah Sandstrom.
Lastly, a big note of gratitude to Lisa Melendy, who is our Athletics Director, and President Maud Mandel, as we could not do what we have the opportunity to do without their support. This also applies as well to our professors, academic faculty and all staff across campus, who have supported our students in so many ways to be able to take advantage of the incredible experiences at Williams!"
