WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — First-year Ellie Simons, sophomore Sophia Baer and junior Kate Lane led the Williams College volleyball team effort as the Ephs disposed of the visiting Russell Sage Gators on Friday evening at Chandler Gymnasium in straight sets, 25-6, 25-14, 25-17. The trio combined for 22 kills as Williams (7-3) posted a robust .345 attack percentage while forcing the Gators (4-7) into more errors (16) than kills (12).
"I am really proud of the way we played tonight," said Eph Head Coach Christi Kelsey. "Everybody who was able to play did, and each one contributed to this victory. We came out aggressively, something we worked on all week, and we never let up. Now we need to maintain this momentum and continue to play with the same intensity."
Williams certainly asserted itself in the first set, starting with a kill by sophomore Adalena Rodgers on the very first point. The attack came from everywhere with the next three kills coming from different players before first-year setter Emily Cao rattled off six straight points while serving, including a pair of aces. With the score at 12-6, junior Maya Thompson spiked home a point, which started a string of 13 straight points as Lane served the Ephs to a 1-0 lead with five aces to her credit.
In the second stanza, Williams continued its run by scoring the first seven points with senior Chidimma Obi contributing a pair of kills. Again the Ephs built up a 12-6 lead and never let Russell Sage get any closer. Lane provided the muscle with five kills in the set and Obi four more while Simons served up three aces.
Simons and Baer took were the offensive forces in the third set as Simons collected seven of her eight kills in the frame while Baer put away five spikes without an error in just eight attempts. The Gators did manage to go up, 3-2, before Williams rattled off eight straight points with Thompson serving. The Ephs never let the difference get less than six points as they cruised to their fourth victory in their last five matches.
Senior Morgan Daetz and Cao set up the offensive onslaught with a combined 30 assists. Sophomore libero Eve Kaplan led the defensive effort with 11 of Williams' 35 digs while Thompson helped out on three of the team's six blocks.
Tomorrow the Ephs travel to Cortland, New York, to play SUNY Brockport and host SUNY Cortland. The match with the Golden Eagles (6-3) begins at 2:30 p.m., followed by the showdown with the Red Dragons (7-3).
