Middlebury, VT -- In their first NESCAC action of the season, Williams College (5-0) took down Middlebury College (2-3) in straight sets to maintain their undefeated record.
Unlike their first two sets, Williams came out of the gates on fire in the third set. With already her third kill of the set, first year
Keely Campuzano made it 7-2 in favor of the Ephs. Seeing the win within reach, the Ephs battled onwards as quality contributions from the entire lineup pushed Williams to a 19-13 lead. Although the Panthers won the next three points to cut the deficit in half, the Ephs quickly reasserted themselves, and senior
Lauren Kauppila sealed the match with a sly setter dump, followed immediately by a service ace to win the third and final set 25-18.
The first set began with neither team able to gain an edge, as a Williams attack error left the score knotted at 11-11. From there, however, the Ephs began to assert their dominance, as they proceeded to win eight of the next eleven points to build a 19-14 advantage. Although the Panthers called a timeout, trying to slow Williams down, the Ephs simply could not be stopped, as senior
Celia Adams racked up her third kill in eight points to push the lead to seven. After that, back to back errors from Middlebury clinched the first set for Williams, 25-17.
Battling back after losing the first set, the Panthers came out hot to start off the second set, building their largest lead of the match at 10-5. The Ephs quickly gathered themselves though, and proceeded to win the next six points in a row to retake the lead, with the run capped off by a service ace from
Lauren Kauppila. Williams would not relinquish the lead, although they required some timely plays from key contributors to keep the Panthers at bay. Back to back powerful kills from
Keely Campuzano made it 16-13 for the Ephs, and then an unstoppable swing from senior
Marit Hoyem pushed Williams to 20-16, pressuring Middlebury into calling yet another timeout. Finally, a double block by
Keely Campuzano and sophomore
Helen Qian secured the second set 25-20 for Williams.
Middlebury leaders were: first year Molly Harrison with 11 kills, junior Gabbie O'Toole with 19 assists, and senior Kelly Ferrero with 9 digs. Williams leaders were:
Keely Campuzano with 11 kills,
Lauren Kauppila with 32 assists, and junior
Sidra Wohlwend with 13 digs.
Reflecting on their fifth straight win to start the season, Eph head coach
Christi Kelsey remarked, "Overall this was a really great first conference win for us. Middlebury is a really strong team and probably the best team we've played yet. Our team went out from the very first point and played very consistently and confidently to put pressure on them right from the first serve. Our team overall did a great job of making adjustments, and even in points throughout the match where things got a little tight, our team responded really well and continued to push to close out the match. Lastly, I just want to point out that the energy from our bench was a huge factor for us again tonight. There's amazing energy that's being invested onto the court for each other and that is a real strength for us!"
Williams will be back in action in Clinton, NY at 12:00 PM EST on Saturday, September 16th when they travel to take on Hamilton College, followed immediately by St. Lawrence University.
