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Williams College

Home of the Williams College EPHS
Keely Campuzano
Edan Zinn
3
Winner Williams Wil 7-3,1-1 NESCAC
1
Vassar VAS 2-9,0-0 Liberty League
Winner
Williams Wil
7-3,1-1 NESCAC
3
Final
1
Vassar VAS
2-9,0-0 Liberty League
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Williams Wil 25 25 23 25 (3)
Vassar VAS 23 17 25 21 (1)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Ephs Secure a Competitive Win Against Vassar 3-1

Poughkeepsie, NY - The Ephs (7-3, 1-1 NESCAC) take down the Vassar College Brewers (2-9) 3-1 in a tough, well-fought match.  

The Ephs and Brewers began the first set head to head, practically even leveled trading off the same amount of kills and also errors. Williams snatched a three-point lead after three consecutive kills and kept outplaying their opponent to incrementally stack their advantage. Trouble started brewing after a few errors gave Vassar a chance to meet their opponent's score, but Annaliese Fricke proceeded to shut them out with two incredible kills: a strong cross-court hit which grazed the line and another shot in between the gap and right down the middle of the court. This prompted the first Vassar timeout, and Kami Israelski put a devastating serve on the court which gave the Ephs an ace and secured a five-point lead. However, after a fast comeback, consisting of precise defensive play and finalized by a quick middle kill, Vassar went on their own run to tie the match 20-20, and prompt a nervous Williams timeout. Vassar immediately came out with a powerful open shot to take a lead in this battle to five, but Williams clutched in two points, calling a timeout for Vassar 22-21. The set turned tides once more, after Vassar went on a two point run to retake the lead, and Helen Qian achieved a much needed kill to tie the set at 23. Directly following, it was Annaliese Fricke who would win the set with two kills, the second of which was an incredibly smart tip off the pressed block which let the ball drop out. The Ephs took the first set 25-23.

Vassar opened the second set feeling energetic from their defeat: strong service and general aggression at the net gave them an early 4 point lead. However, once the Ephs got their strong server out of rotation, they were able to play much more fluidly and bring the match to a tie 5-5. The next few points were another set of exchanges, until the Brewers gave up 3 errors to let the Ephs go off 13-10. The Ephs maintained a competitive level of play, holding onto this three-point lead. As the scores kept growing further to 25, the Brewers finally called their second timeout 20-15. The Ephs came back getting two points, including a swipe by the middle, and the set seemed to already be much out of Vassar's hands. A beautiful roll shot into the far left corner by Tatum Baker secured the Ephs their 23rd point, and a final pipe roll-shot by Annaliese Fricke right in the center of the court resulted in the Ephs winning their second set 25-17.

The third set opened precisely as the second did. Vassar lunged out into a 3-point lead, but the Ephs immediately retaliated with several kills which gave them the lead. The teams kept wrestling into an even 10-10, until an open cross-court kill by Keely Campuzano followed by a strong double-block by Maya Thompson and Keely Campuzano, which sent the ball flying behind the defense, gave the Ephs a much needed pull-away and buildup of momentum. The battle kept in favor of the Ephs who at their peak were 16-12, until two unfortunate errors put the Brewers back into the set. In the 17th point, Morgan Daetz executed a rapid setter dump into a wide hole around the Brewers defense. Determined to finish off the sweep, the Ephs called a timeout after a 3-point run gave the Brewers a small 1-point deficit at 19-18. The Brewers collected 2 more points following the break, snatching away the lead and initiating an intense battle where Vassar kept scrapping points to further their lead. In the end, the Ephs had to come from a 24-22 point deficit, and were so close but fell 25-23.

Daetz Morgan opened the fourth set strong, with two aces, but still Vassar was able to fight back and tie the set at fours. Williams quickly blew by with three straight kills, two by Annaliese Fricke and one by middle blocker Obi Chi. They then proceeded to go after another three point run, and force a Brewer timeout 9-4. In our twelfth point, Annaliese Fricke had an utterly dominant hit off the top of the block that spent the ball spiraling out. Vassar once again, managed to stay in the game, fighting for two separate 3-point runs that gave Williams a 1-point game 13-12. The set score differential stayed this way for a while, as both outside hitters were trading kills, until Vassar tied the set 17-17. This time, Williams stayed in, managing to get 3 points in a row and forcing what could be Vassar's final timeout. Kate Lane gave the Ephs another point with a high hit just in behind the backline. At 22-19, an incredibly persistent rally ensued, trading off strong hits for even more impressive digs on both teams. Vassar put that point away and may have begun a surge  of momentum, but a service error, an ace by Helen Qian, and a final blow by Kate Lane, straight down the line, gave Ephs the victory 25-21. 

Eph's head coach Christi Kelsey commented about the team's performance today: "Really resilient performance by our team tonight. Vassar is a very athletic and scrappy team so we really had to adjust and stay focused as they pushed us in each set.

Lots of really good moments and plays tonight. Looking forward to building on what we learned for our next match against Midd."

Williams plays Middlebury College next at Middlebury, Vermont, September 27th 7:30 PM EST.
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