Volleyball Team Spiked by Bowdoin

Friday night the Middlebury volleyball team (12-12, 6-4) played its final game of the season, falling to the Bowdoin Polar Bears (21-7, 6-4) three sets to one in a NESCAC tournament quarterfinal match at Tufts.

The first match was knotted up at 15 a piece before Bowdoin closed the Panthers out on a ten to three run, sparked by a pair of Christy Jewett service aces. Erika Sklaver slammed home the final two points of the initial game to give Bowdoin a 25 to 18 victory.

Middlebury started the second set on a high note with a six-point streak, highlighted by kills from Emily Kolodka ’18 and Melanie English ’17 and four Bowdoin attack errors.

Bowdoin crawled back into the match, overtaking the Panthers 17 to 16, before Middlebury went on its second six to nothing run, led by three kills from Alice Roberts ’18, propelling the Panthers to a 25 to 18 win which tied the affair at one match each.

Bowdoin began the ultimately close third set with early momentum, gaining a seven to one edge on the Panthers, led by a Michelle Albright service ace and a pair of Christy Jewett Kills.

The run lasted until a Roberts kill started the Panthers’ engines. The Panthers tied the match at 19 when Becca Raffel ’18 hammered home a kill. But the Polar Bears were unfazed, capturing six of the last nine points, led by a service ace and kill by Hailey Wahl, and another kill by Jewett.

The fourth and final match provided a gut-wrenching end to the Panthers’ season.

Bowdoin went up 14 to seven and looked to have the game and the match all but in the bag. But a Bowdoin service error and two Lizzy Reed ’15 service aces as well as two Olivia Kolodka ’15 kills put the Panthers right back into the thick of the game with a deficit of only one point.

After a Hailey Wahl kill put Bowdoin up 21 to 17, the Panthers mustered one final push to try and stretch the meeting to a fifth match.

A Hannah Blackburn ’17 kill and a bevy of Bowdoin service and attack errors found the Panthers on top of the Polar Bears 23 to 22 heading into the final stretch. Bowdoin’s coach, Karen Corey, elected to take a timeout to settle her young team.

The Panthers needed only two more points to set up a dramatic rubber match, but the Polar Bear defense and two more Christy Jewett kills iced the quarterfinal match.

“It’s always tough to lose that last match, but all good things come to an end eventually. We played well, but not great, and when you get to the championships, you usually have to play your best if you want to win,” Head Coach Sarah Raunecker said.

First years Roberts and Raffel led the Panthers with 11 kills apiece. English finished with nine kills, a .368 hitting percentage and a strong defensive showing with three block solos and two block assists. Blackburn had 33 assists and Charlotte Devine ’17 had a match high three service aces. Olivia Kolodka had a team high 16 digs as fellow senior Reed collected 15.

Bowdoin’s Jewett led all players with 22 kills and Sklaver also posted a double-digit total of 13 kills. The Polar Bears’ Quincy Leech contributed 27 assists, and Katie Doherty had a match high of digs.

On Monday, Nov. 10, the selections for the NCAA volleyball tournament were announced. Tufts and Bowdoin were selected as at-large bids from the NESCAC, and will join conference champion Williams in the tournament.

The loss was the final game in a Panther uniform for seniors Reed, Olivia Kolodka and Piper Underbrink ’15.

The three seniors graduate having been members of the 2012 NESCAC Tournament championship team that collected a victory in the NCAA tournament and advanced to the second round.

“They had very successful careers here, and have helped strengthen our program, and we thank them for leaving that legacy,” Raunecker said.