Middlebury volleyball spent homecoming weekend in Connecticut, picking up two conference victories on the road at Trinity and Wesleyan on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 and 18.
On Friday night the Panthers overcame the Bantams’ quick start in Oosting Gymnasium and cruised to their fourth win in conference play.
The two teams were neck-to-neck in the first set until Trinity went on a four-to-nothing run to take a 17-16 lead. Middlebury closed out the set on a nine-to-one run to take the first set 25-18.
The Panthers carried the momentum over, gaining an early advantage in the second set. A run of aces and well-placed kills gave Middlebury a 19-10 lead, as they held on and secured the set, 25-14.
In the third set, the Panthers traded points with Trinity, until a run of four straight points saw Middlebury grab a 17-13 lead, propelling the Panthers to a 25-19 victory.
Becca Raffel ’18 and Olivia Kolodka ’15 posted the team high for kills with eight each and were followed by Alice Roberts ‘18 who registered seven. Emily Kolodka ’18 played a key role in the victory as she registered a match-high 15 digs for the Panthers along with four service aces. Hannah Blackburn ’17 recorded a double-double with her match high 28 assists to go with 14 digs.
Trinity was led offensively by Kate Giddens with a match-best 11 kills, while Hunter Drews chipped in with six. Amanda Horan added four kills, while Randi Whitham dished out 13 assists. Defensively, Kristen Cooprider led the Bantams with 10 digs. The Bantams fell to 11-7 (3-5) with the loss.
“We feel good about what we’re doing right now, and will continue to strive to improve a little bit every day,” Head Coach Sarah Raunecker said.
Middlebury would look to carry Friday night’s momentum into Wesleyan’s Silloway Gym on Saturday afternoon in Middletown, but quickly found itself down a set when the Cardinals jumped on the Panthers early.
After a Charlotte Devine ’17 kill in the first set, Wesleyan collected 10 of the next 13 points and led by a score of 18-9. Kills by Olivia Kolodka and the first-year duo of Roberts and Raffel looked to stop the bleeding for the Panthers, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop Wesleyan from taking the first set 25-16.
Despite dropping the first set, the Panthers were able to win the next three and capture the match. The second set saw Middlebury in another tough battle as the match went down to the wire with the Panthers leading 19-18. However, a Roberts kill shifted the momentum in Middlebury’s favor. Kills from Melanie English ’17, Olivia Kolodka and a pair of Blackburn service aces sealed 25-18 set victory for the Panthers, knotting the match at one game apiece.
The third set staunchly belonged to Middlebury. The set was highlighted early by three Lizzy Reed ’15 service aces, and was closed by a Devine ace and kills from Raffel, Roberts and Olivia Kolodka.
“It doesn’t necessarily show in our stats, but I think we’ve been a pretty strong serving team this year so far, and we’d like to continue with that these last couple of weeks before NESCACs,” Raunecker said.
The fourth and final set got saw the Panthers off to a rocky start, as three straight attack errors turned their three to nothing lead into a four to three deficit. Once again, it was a close set until the end, when Middlebury managed six straight points, bookended by kills from Emily Kolodka and Raffel, to clinch the set 25-15, and the match three games to one. The loss dropped Wesleyan to 10-9 (2-7).
Olivia Kolodka collected 12 kills, Reed had 18 digs, and Hannah Blackburn dished out an impresive 44 assists to go with her four service aces.
The Panthers, 10-9 (5-3), have six games remaining in the last two weeks of the regular season.
The Panthers’ regular season wraps up with a pair of NESCAC matches against Connecticut College and conference leader Tufts. These matchups provide Middlebury with a chance to improve its seed heading into the conference tournament.
Currently sitting in fifth, the best position the team can find itself is the two seed, but this will require a lot of help; at worst the Panthers will earn the seventh seed.
“Our team has really started to gel and come together as we hoped it would, which has been really fun to see,” Raunecker said. “I think this is due to the strong leadership of our captains, and the maturation of our large freshman class.”
