WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Sophomore
Kate Lane of the Williams College women's volleyball team recorded her third consecutive double-double with a career-high 18 digs, to go along with 10 kills, during a 3-2 victory over Amherst Saturday afternoon at Chandler Gymnasium.
"Today was a really gutsy performance from our team to close out the regular season," said head coach
Christi Kelsey. "Amherst definitely made us work to earn the win, as the Mammoths gave everything they had with their season on the line. I am really proud of how our team hung in there and ultimately pulled out a five-set win. I hope that we can use this resiliency and toughness to our advantage as we get ready to kick off postseason play with the NESCAC Tournament."
With the victory, the Ephs (18-6, 7-3 NESCAC) clinched the third seed in the NESCAC Tournament and will host sixth-seeded Middlebury (13-11, 6-4 NESCAC) Saturday at 3 p.m. during the quarterfinal round in Chandler Gymnasium. First-year
Eve Kaplan (17 digs), junior
Morgan Daetz (22 assists, 8 digs), sophomore
Lilly Carstens (17 assists, 7 digs), senior
Annaliese Fricke (13 kills), sophomore
Lilly Fox (10 kills, 7 block assists, 1 solo block) and senior
Helen Qian (9 kills, 4 block assists) played well.
The Ephs have defeated Amherst in four consecutive matches dating back to the 2022 season. Leading the way for the Mammoths (7-10, 2-8 NESCAC) were Addison Lau (16 kills, 11 digs) and Judith Subirats-Bosch (28 assists).
The Ephs raced out to an 8-1 advantage in the first set on a kill by sophomore
Chi Obi. A kill by Lane put the hosts in front, 21-13, and then an attack error by Amherst clinched a 25-16 win for Williams.
Neither team developed a lead of larger than four points in the second set, as a kill by Chideraa Ngwadom gave the visitors a 27-25 victory. With the sets tied at 1-1, the Ephs cruised to a 25-13 win in the third set, which was highlighted by a combined 11 assists from Daetz and Carstens, six digs by Kaplan and four kills from Qian.
The Mammoths developed an 8-2 lead in the fourth set on a kill by Lau, and then withstood an Ephs' surge in the middle of the game to earn a 25-19 win and set the stage for the decisive fifth set. The Ephs scored the opening five points of the final set, but Amherst refused to go away, going in front, 9-7, on a kill by Lau. Williams finished the set on an 8-1 run, as Fricke delivered the match-clinching kill in a 15-10 triumph.
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