WALTHAM, Mass. – The Williams College volleyball team opened up their 2026 season with two wins at the Brandeis Invitational on Saturday afternoon. The Ephs defeated WPI 3-1 before defeating host school Brandeis 3-1 in game two.
 
"We are really happy with how our team played today to kick off our 2026 season. Getting two wins is awesome and more importantly we learned a lot about ourselves and how we can continue to improve and grow in the weeks ahead," said head coach Christi Kelsey.
 
Williams opened the day with a four-set victory over WPI, taking the first two sets 25-17 and 25-16 before narrowly dropping the third, 25-23, and closing out the match in four.

Keely Campuzano led the Ephs as she posted 11 kills, followed by Chidimma Obi and first-year Ellie Simons with eight kills apiece.
 
Lilly Carstens and Emily Cao each recorded more than 20 assists, finishing with 24 and 21, respectively. Cao also added 10 digs to record her first double-double of the season, while Eve Kaplan posted the Ephs' second double-double of the match with a team-high 13 digs and 11 assists.

In their second match of the day against Brandeis, the Ephs dropped the opening set 25-21 before responding with three straight wins, 25-18, 25-20 and 25-20, to secure their second victory of the day.

Campuzano posted 12 kills in game two to led the Ephs, followed closely by Sophia Baer with 11. Kate Lane totaled nine kills and nine digs, while Simons added on eight kills and seven digs of her own in her Eph debut. 

Carstens paced the Ephs with 19 assists, while Cao added 15, with both players recording seven digs. Kaplan anchored the defensive effort with a team-high 18 digs to go along with seven assists.

"As coaches, we want to highlight just how awesome of a preseason this has been from all 17 of our players. They all came in to start with such great energy, focus, drive and intentionality to begin building the foundation of what this year could be. We still have a lot of opportunity to grow and improve but when you have a crew like this that is all in for each other, there is so much to look forward to and we are grateful for the week ahead to be together to see what we can do," said Kelsey.
 
Williams returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 8 as they host Skidmore at 6:30 p.m. in their home opener.