Netters spike NESCAC foes at Amherst Classic Panthers bring home hardware after going 2-1 during weekend tournament

Author: Sarah Poling Luehrman

This past weekend was an exciting one for the Middlebury volleyball team at the Amherst Classic Tournament. They held three suspenseful matches against important rivals, two of them NESCAC teams. "This tournament gave us a glimpse into what our team could become," commented Captain Jamie Wong '06. It certainly provided some exciting and tough play for the Panthers and their opponents. After winning two matches and dropping the third, Middlebury emerged with a record of 6-4 overall and 3-2 within NESCAC.

The tournament opened last Friday, Sept. 23, with an exciting match against the tournament host. Traditionally, Amherst is known as a tough and competitive team "that has frustrated us in the past," according to Wong. The two teams played evenly throughout the first half of the match, then Middlebury took the first game 30-27 but dropped the second 30-26. After a strong third game, which was won 30-27, the Panthers took a dive in game four, losing 30-14. The Jeffs were ready to ride their victory all the way through a suspenseful fifth game, but the Panthers held out during a neck-and-neck tie for the last few points and finally secured the necessary two point margin to win the match 17-15. Lexie Fisher '08 led the offense with 14 kills, Jackie Edwards '06 was close behind with 12 kills and Captain Lacee Patterson '06 held things together with 43 assists. Wong once again proved her defensive prowess with 29 digs. "We're still figuring things out a bit with our line-up," says Head Coach Sarah Raunecker, "but the Amherst match was a great win for us."

The Panthers moved on to play against Brandeis on Saturday, where another suspenseful match ensued. This time, Middlebury dropped the first game 30-21, but came back to take the second 30-20. Game three went to Brandeis 30-18, another surprisingly wide margin. However, in the fourth game the two teams began to butt heads and the end was a fight for the two-point margin of victory.

The Panthers stayed alive to win the game 33-31, levelling the match score at 2-2 and forcing the Judges into a fifth game. Middlebury cleaned up relatively easily, 15-7, to collect another match victory. In comparison with the season's statistics thus far, it was a relatively complacent match for the offense. Fisher once again topped the stats with 10 kills, followed closely by Amy Heath '07 with nine kills. Wong backed up the defense with 26 digs, while Amy McCowan '08 had 22.

Finally, the Panthers faced Trinity, the team that defeated them last weekend, the only NESCAC team to do so thus far. After yet another suspenseful five-game match, Middlebury fell 3-2. "Trinity seems to have our number, so to speak," commented Raunecker, "but once again, it was the fourth game that was our downfall." The Panthers quickly bounced back from a fall in game one, 30-23, to take the next two in a row, 30-27 and 30-20. Instead of ending the tournament in the next game, Middlebury started to fall apart at the seams, and the Bantams took the fourth game 30-27, forcing a fifth. It was certainly a close game, but Trinity managed to pull out the win 15-13 and walk away with the match.

Nonetheless, Patterson played a fantastic game, adding 51 assists to her record, while Wong once again paced the defense with 34 digs. Fisher, Edwards and Heath contributed 14, 13 and 12 kills, respectively. "We just made too many mental errors late in the fourth and fifth games," said Raunecker. "We know we're going to make some physical errors, it's the mental ones we'd like to diminish."

Overall, coach and players alike were satisfied with the outcome of the weekend, particularly the Amherst victory. Raunecker has been especially pleased with the team's improvements both in blocking and defense, to which she attributes a large part of their success. "We're on the right track, and we have a lot of work to do," she says, "but I'm very excited about this team's potential."