Middlebury volleyball suffers a Jumbo loss

Author: Seth Miran

The women's volleyball team entered Sunday's match against the Tufts Jumbos with the overall series between the two schools tied at six wins apiece. Unfortunately, the Jumbos left with that seventh win and a one game advantage in the series. The Panthers battled hard but ended up falling 3-0 in a hard-fought match.

In an incredibly tight first game, the Panthers were ultimately defeated 30-28. The teams traded points throughout much of the game, with neither team ever gaining a commanding lead as the Panthers were neck and neck with the Jumbos up until the very end. In an unlucky break for the Panthers, Tufts pulled out the nail-biter of a first game.

Clearly the heartbreaking Tufts victory in the first game provided all of the motivation that the Panthers needed in order to dominate the beginning of the second game. The team responded incredibly well at the start, roaring out to a 12-3 lead. They struggled to maintain this momentum but ended up losing the second game by a score of 30-24.

Lexie Fisher '08 noted that too many mistakes by the Panthers prohibited the Jumbos from creeping back into the game. "We came out strong at the beginning of the second game. I think we let up on our serve receive passes and that really hurt us in the end," she observed.

Refusing to quit in the face of a discouraging two game deficit going into the third game, the Panthers sustained the impressive effort that was evident throughout the match. Tufts jumped out to an 8-3 lead with a number of sound kills. The Panthers followed with a spurt of their own, but decided to call a timeout with the score 16-8 in the Jumbos' favor in an attempt to regroup. After a Tufts point immediately following the break, an emphatic kill by Amy Heath '07 made the score 17-9 Tufts. A number of acrobatic digs on both sides followed Heath's kill and both teams traded points back and forth until the score was 23-13 Tufts. After a four-point spurt by Middlebury, Tufts called a time-out. The Jumbos emerged from the break intent on closing out the game, finishing off the Panthers by a score of 30-21 in the third and final game.

Fisher, who entered the match with a team-high average of 3.58 kills per game, maintained this solid average, leading the way with 12 kills in the three games. Olivia Minkhorst '09, who led the squad with an average of 4.86 digs per game heading into Sunday, contributed another 17 digs on the day while Reisa Bloch '10 added 16.

Although frustrated by the loss, the Panthers were not discouraged. The team's effort was solid throughout and there were certainly flashes of brilliance. "Tufts was a tough loss but I think we learned a lot and can use that for next weekend," said Fisher. "They were beatable, but we have to learn to cut back on the mistakes."

Teammate Lindsay Patterson '08.5 echoed that sentiment, adding, "It's frustrating to lose, especially at home when we have great fans. Tufts is a beatable team, we just had to cut back on our mental errors." Fisher was quick to comment on the wonderful crowd support as well, noting what a tremendous lift the fans provided.

Both Fisher and Patterson emphasized the positives, looking ahead to the team's second NESCAC Quad of the season, as opposed to dwelling on the negatives.

"Volleyball is a sport where there are going to be ups and downs, but it's a matter of how well a team can come back from being down. We've come a long way this season, and I'm confident that we will continue to improve," Patterson said.

Fisher was quick to second that response, "I think that our team has a lot of potential," she said. "We just need to show it. We have smart hitters and awesome defense but sometimes we have trouble putting all of the pieces together."

The Panthers will look to showcase this more complete package when they square-off against formidable opponents Connecticut College, Trinity and Wesleyan in this weekend's vital NESCAC Quad at Williams. Currently, the Panthers stand 9-5 overall and 1-3 in the NESCAC, but they have nearly half their season remaining, including the NESCAC Tournament.