Midd netters split four against NESCAC rivals Women's volleyball set to travel to Colby this weekend for division tourney

Author: Sarah Poling Luehrman

The Panthers' regular season ended Tuesday with a 3-0 win over in-state rival St. Michael's. Last weekend's NESCAC Quad at Williams gave the Panthers a taste of the competition they will face next weekend when they travel to Colby for the NESCAC Championship tournament.

After a 3-0 loss to Williams last Wednesday, Oct. 26 and a 3-0 loss to Colby on Friday, Oct. 28, the Panthers went on to sweep Bates in three games and beat Bowdoin 3-1 on Saturday, Oct. 29, which were "two solid wins," said captain Jamie Wong '06, that "will help us...on Friday [in the conference quarterfinals]."

Middlebury's second match against Williams proved no easier than the first, and a 19-30 loss in the first game did not help. However, the Panthers woke up in the second game and tightened the score margin a little more on the Ephs, though they still dropped it 28-30, and the third game ended the match, 26-30. Amy Heath '07 put down nine kills throughout the match, and Lindsay Patterson '09, proving to be one of this season's most versatile players, followed close behind with eight kills and led the defense with 17 digs. Wong contributed 16 digs, and Olivia Minkhorst '09 added 15.

The Panthers found themselves back at Williams only two days later, this time to face all three Maine NESCAC colleges one after the other. They faced this year's first seed Colby for the first time all season. They played a difficult match in which they "couldn't quite get a game from [Colby]," commented Head Coach Sarah Raunecker. "Then we just lost it in the third."

Indeed, after losing the first two with a relatively close scoring margin, 24-30 and 24-30, Middlebury dropped game three 14-30. Captain Lacee Patterson '06 and Patterson '09 held the defense together with 15 and 19 digs, respectively, but the level of offense throughout was unusually low. The team "didn't feel that we played all that well overall against Colby," according to Raunecker, though the Mules are indeed a very strong team this year, thus far undefeated in the conference.

On Saturday, however, the Panthers took care of the rest of Maine without much trouble. Bates, though currently resting in the bottom half of the NESCAC ranks, surprised Middlebury with an early lead in the first game, forcing the Panthers to come from behind to win it 30-28. "We've had some trouble pushing through once we reach the mid 20s," says Raunecker, as evidenced in many recent mid-match slumps. "So the fact that we were behind in the late 20s and came back to win was a good sign."

Indeed, the Panthers had no further trouble with the Bobcats and proceeded to take games two and three 30-19 and 30-15, achieving their best team hitting percentage of the season in the process. Patterson '09 delivered 11 kills, Fisher and Jackie Edwards '08 supporting her with eight each, and Patterson '06 and Wong contributed 13 and 15 digs, respectively.

Bowdoin, after dropping the first game 30-22, surprised Middlebury with 25-30 win in game two. Rather than allow the third set to deteriorate into yet another statistic of lost focus late in the match, the Panthers tightened up their game and determined not to let the momentum get away from them.

With renewed concentration, they broke through and won games three and four, 30-25 and 30-27. Patterson '06 played an especially strong match, totaling nine kills, 35 assists and 22 digs. Fisher tallied 12 kills, Patterson '09 had 7 kills and 17 digs, and Amy McCowan '08 and Wong contributed 14 digs each.

Middlebury is now tied for third seed with Amherst, Connecticut College, Trinity and Williams, which is a sign of tough competition ahead for the NESCAC title. Middlebury will face Trinity in the opening match on Friday night, a team to whom they have already lost twice this season.

"Both times it was in five games, and it was early in the season," says Raunecker, speculating on Middlebury's chances against the Bantams. "We won some games big, and lost some games big to them, so it should be another great match." If the Panthers win, they will go on to face either Amherst, whom they have beaten twice, or Tufts in the semifinals.