Saratoga Spring, NY - In their season opener, Williams College (0-1) loses to SUNY Cortland (2-2) 3-0 at this weekend's Skidmore College Invitational.
The first set started off slow for the Ephs, who gave a 4 point lead to the Red Dragons. Williams called a timeout when the game was 12-7 to undermine their momentum. The Cortland lead slowly but continuously expanded. The Ephs kept swinging and had some impressive digs, however ultimately fell in the first set 25-16.
In the second set, Williams took an early on 7-4 lead. Points were then being equally traded, and in the midst, a great block on a strong hit was achieved by Lilly Fox and Keely Campuzano, bringing the Ephs to a 9-7 lead. Shortly following, a fast-paced kill straight down to the 10-foot line by Lilly Fox started to cause some problems for Cortland. The Red Dragons made an attack error and were aced by Lilly Fox as they were being overtaken by the Ephs momentum. Cortland managed to gain a 1-point lead after getting several kills, bringing the set to 17-16. Shortly after, Annaliese Fricke delivered two powerful, back-to-back kills which are deflected far off of Cortland's unsuccessful digs. However, the Red Dragons end up winning the majority of the exchanges, gaining a tight lead. After a wonderful short serve by Morgan Daetz which rolled over the tape, Williams went on a huge 5 point run and tied Cortland 21-21 and forcing a very nervous timeout. Williams and Cortland played into the end of a very close set, where the Red Dragons came back to take the set 26-24.
In the third set, Williams started off better, but Cortland went on a 7 point run to build a 4-point lead. After a few Red Dragon kills and back-to-back aces, Williams called a timeout. Right off the timeout Tatum Baker achieved a great kill right down the line, but Cortland came back and got more and more kills. After a few more points piled up on the Ephs, the third set ended with a decisive 25-13 victory for the Red Dragons.
Eph head coach Christi Kelsey reflected on the game and talked about the team this season, "There were definitely some positives for tonight and things that I'm excited about for this group that we can build off of for the future! It's always hard to navigate the emotions of the first match of the season and also getting people their first competitive playing experience for the year. I thought we did a really nice job at times, especially in the second set. Just have to work to be more consistent in our execution, across-the-board for all of our skills! Really proud of our team for the work they put in this preseason and looking forward to another opportunity to learn, grow and compete tomorrow."
Williams is back tomorrow to finish the Skidmore Classic, playing Brandeis University at 2:00 PM EST and SUNY Oneonta at 4:00 PM EST.
