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Williams College

Home of the Williams College EPHS
Annaliese Fricke
Edan Zinn
3
Winner Trinity (CT) TrinCT 9-0,1-0 NESCAC
1
Williams Wil 5-3,0-1 NESCAC
Winner
Trinity (CT) TrinCT
9-0,1-0 NESCAC
3
Final
1
Williams Wil
5-3,0-1 NESCAC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Trinity (CT) TrinCT 25 27 23 27 (3)
Williams Wil 22 25 25 25 (1)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Ephs Narrowly Fall to the Undefeated Trinity College Bantams

Williamstown, MA - In their 2024 NESCAC debut, the Ephs (5-3, 0-1 NESCAC) lost to Trinity College (9-0, 1-0 NESCAC) 3-1.

The match opened up shaky for the Ephs. They were even with the Bantams when it came to exchanging kills, but 3 service errors gave Trinity a small early lead 8-5. It was clear that Williams was the better team in this set if they could commit fewer errors– 6 attack errors contributed to the Bantams 12 points– and the Ephs called the first timeout after a growing deficit. To come back in the set, Williams had to find a way to build up momentum: Keely Campuzano executed a strong open hit down the line, which was negated by a service error, and then Ellie Gordon had a brilliant cross-court kill. Williams challenged a heavily controversial 4-touch call that could've changed the course of the momentum, but brought the set to 19-14. The Bantams used their now strong, but mostly error-induced, point advantage to play with more confidence and strength, inching to close 25 points. Williams, led by Keely Campuzano's 2 aces, managed to pull off a 4-point run, bringing the set to a narrower 23-20, and prompting a nervous Trinity timeout. Williams was now operating much more efficiently, committing to less errors and putting up a more relentless defense. In a crucial point, Kami Israelski and Morgan Daetz accomplished two incredible digs, but it unfortunately became a point for Trinity. A final Bantam line shot gave them the first set 25-22. However 14 of those points came from errors, whereas the Bantams only had a total of 5 errors, and Williams actually dominated in kills– 14 to Trinity's 8. 

The second set would be all about if Williams could shake off their errors and play more cohesively. The opening of the set wasn't very convincing: 4 errors gave the Bantams a lead 5-2, and Trinity were making the Ephs fight for every point, giving them points only through kills. At this point of the match, it has additionally been made clear that a new problem, Trinity's overwhelming block, would cause trouble for Williams down the line. Nevertheless, the Ephs with much stronger hitters could break through and it seemed like a very likely possibility that they could come out on top. One of those attackers, freshman Kate Lane, was consistently crushing over the blocks and punishing Trinity's back row in the second set. A perfect back row set by Lily Carstens gave Kate Lane a completely open kill, and then an ace by Morgan Daetz almost closed the gap. As the Bantams score grew closer to 25, Williams called a timeout to try and create a final effort to save the set. A few more exchanges brought the set 21-17, and then Kami Israelski stepped up, getting two aces and building up great momentum. Chi Obi brought the Ephs a 4-point run which took Trinity down to a narrow 1-point lead. The Bantams then called a nervous timeout, hoping to break the Ephs momentum. An incredible rally ensued after the timeout as both teams were fighting to claim the set. Tatum Baker put a finish to it with a powerful well-aimed kill around the block. The Ephs managed to seize the lead 23-22 after Baker got another kill, and Trinity called their second timeout, with much more worry over the outcome of the set. Another incredible, emotion-filled rally ensued, and after a disputed call, Keely Campuzano brought the Ephs a point away from victory. Trinity managed to pull off a short ace to tie the game, and received an error to take the lead and a chance to win the set. The Ephs played great defense and retook the lead, but after two errors, Trinity had another chance to win in the set. This time they took it, as Williams tried a high hit that ended up going out. Williams led again in kills during the second set, but once more had double the errors.



Williams finally found their cohesiveness in the third set, taking an early 5-3 lead and making Trinity fight for every point. In Trinity's fifth point, both teams put up a great rally and Williams got three amazing digs in a row, showcasing their commitment to fight back for the game. Intent to take their final-needed set, Trinity outplayed Williams on a few points to take a 2-point lead. Both teams began playing at full capacity at this point of the match, minimizing all of their errors. Williams seemed to be executing a more aggressive offense, but Trinity was also very successful, responding with a dominant defense and achieving 3 blocks in the first half of the set. An intense rally ended in an overhead kill by Kate Lane and brought the set to an even score. A powerful kill by Tatum Baker who found the open court gave Williams back the lead, forcing a Trinity timeout 16-15. The Bantams immediately came out with a powerful line shot, to which Kate Lane, once again, retaliated with a line shot of her own; this kill gave the Ephs a much needed 3-point run to take a more confident lead, so all they had to do was secure it. It appeared as if the Bantams were able to come back, but the Ephs slipped away with two points, bringing the set 21-18. As the set started disappearing from Trinity's hands, the Bantams layed down incredible play, put down the lead and evening out the game. Post-timeout by the Ephs, a block by Annaliese Fricke shut out their run, and Baker Tatum had a perfectly placed back row attack to regain the lead 23-21. The Ephs practically had it after a brilliant kill by Obi Chi, but Trinity got a lucky two points to trail behind 24-23. The Ephs were back in the same spot as they were during the second set, needing one more point to bring it home after a very tight competition. After an equally nerve-wracking rally, Keely Campuzano put it away with a strong cross court hit that deflected fully off the Bantam's back row.

Trinity immediately opened the fourth set with a 3-point run. Williams came back with a 5-point run to take the lead. Throughout the rallies that ensued, Chi Obi had been amazing in getting touches off of their hits to make the back row job easier, and being more available as an option while swinging hard to drag their blockers for the Ephs other attackers to be open. Following a surge of ambition, the Bantams went on a 4-point run to take the lead. Their lead was short-lived– they committed a few errors and Williams took the opportunity to extend the point-differential to 16-11. Trinity put everything into this set, going back to limiting their attack errors and making Williams commit 5 of their own and brought the set 20-19. The competition was back to peak at this point of the set: both teams were playing every play to an enduring rally. The Ephs brought back their flame with a relentless defense: Sidra Wohlwend had an amazing dig to bring the team to their last point to force a fifth set at 24-21. Once again for the third set in a row, Trinity tenaciously brought the score back 24-23, but this time managed to win the tying point. An ace gave Trinity the chance to win the whole game, and you could feel the tension in the air up to the point where Annaliese layed out her serve receive platform, and Williams clinched a powerful kill by Kate Lane which deflected into Trinity's bench. Trinity managed another kill to bring back their chance to win, but this time, they were able to cap the kill and win the game 27-25. 

Eph head coach Christi Kelsey had this to say about the game: "There were so many great things throughout the match tonight. Definitely lots of learning moments too for our team. Trinity is a really consistent and experienced group, and came in with a lot of confidence being undefeated.

"I thought our team did a really strong job of staying steady in our execution for all 4 sets and we loved our competitive mentality to just keep working the points and adapting when needed. We came up just a little bit short at the end for today, but we are really excited about the continued potential for this group! Looking forward to the opportunity to play again tomorrow!"

The Ephs are back home again tomorrow, Saturday at 2:00 PM EST, playing Connecticut College in their second NESCAC game.
 
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