Volleyball Falls Just Short of Title

Author: David Lindholm Assistant Sports Editor

Middlebury's volleyball team played host to the New England Small College Athetic Conference (NESCAC) Championships this past weekend, and the Panthers kicked off the tournament by hosting top-ranked Wesleyan on Friday. Looking toward the game, Head Coach Sarah Raunecker said, "We'll be looking for the one upset, and then we'll take it game by game from there." Her team would finish coming up just short, but put in a good performance against a team that ended up losing in the final to Williams.

The Panthers knew that they would have their work cut out for them in the tournament after capturing the final playoff spot in the regular season. Wesleyan came into the match with a 24-7 overall record. However, Middlebury was ready to play.

The match started out with a bang as the Panthers shocked the Cardinals in a solid 30-18 first game. The Panthers could not carry that momentum into the second game, however, as Wesleyan shot right back with a 30-17, evening the game at one apiece. The third game was the closest, both in terms of play and score, as the Panthers won 30-28 to go up 2-1. But Wesleyan simply would not quit and won the match with another 30-17 victory in the fourth game and a 15-5 win in the fifth and deciding game.

The offense was very spread out, as Evan Kanaly '03, Luz Brito '04, Rachel Faraone '02 and Katy Hicks '05 each had nine kills. Not far behind were Danielle Boniello '04 and Katie Kenney '03, who each had five. On the defensive end, Kenney and Kanaly each had 12 digs; Faraone had nine and Brito had eight. Boniello led the team with three blocks.

The team improved a lot over the course of the season and finished with a winning record of 13-12. The Panthers will look to improve on that figure next year as they return nine of 11 players.