Volleyball spikes St. Mike's

Author: Peter Baumann

The Middlebury women's volleyball team kicked off its home schedule last Tuesday with an impressive 3-0 win over St. Michael's College before going 2-2 at the Amherst Classic.

After pulling out a 30-27 victory in the first game against the Purple Knights, the Panthers dominated in Pepin Gymnasium, winning the next two games by a combined score of 60-36. The victory was the fifth on the season for the Panthers. Those who showed up to help their team inaugurate the home season were treated to a display of the stifling defense that Middlebury hopes will carry it through NESCAC play.

"Our defense is stacked," said co-captain Olivia Minkhorst '09 at the beginning of the season. "I don't think a ball is going to touch the ground."

It certainly seemed that way against St. Michael's, with the Middlebury defense recording nine blocks to go along with 40 digs.

On Friday, the squad traveled to Massachusetts for the Amherst Classic and kept the momentum going with a well-played 3-0 victory over Johnson and Wales before falling to Brandeis University in the nightcap by an identical score. Not deterred, the team kicked off play on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Westfield State, setting up an afternoon showdown with league rival Amherst, who came in with a perfect record of 10-0.

Amherst got off to a quick start in the first game, taking an early 12-4 lead before Middlebury battled back behind strong play from Minkhorst and Lauren Barnett '11. The comeback came up short, though, with Middlebury unable to generate enough offense to complement its strong defensive showing.

"I think that our defense was good this weekend," said co-captain Lexie Fisher '08, "but we had a little bit of trouble at times with our hitting and our offense."

The offense woke up in game two, as Middlebury was able to stick with Amherst for the first half of the game. However, led by an impressive 20 kills with only two errors, the Lord Jeff offense simply overwhelmed the Middlebury defense with a precise attack that allowed them to take a 2-0 lead overall.

Fighting to extend the match, Middlebury came out with extra energy in the third game - the women were jumping higher and spiking harder.

"We thought we had it," said Fisher of the hard-fought game. "It was really exciting."

The Middlebury offense had far and away its best game, recording 14 kills, and, with the defense continuing its stellar play, the Panthers gave the Lord Jeffs all they could handle.

Finally, with her squad up by only a point, 29-28, Amherst first-year Erin Camp extinguished Middlebury's hopes with her fourth service ace of the day, Amherst's 10th overall, to seal a 30-28 victory.

All in all, it was a good weekend for the Panthers, who jumped to an impressive three games over .500 with their four-game split. For the team, the thrill of two convincing victories was somewhat abated by their second loss to their league rival in as many games.

"That's our second loss to Amherst," said Fisher. "But I think [overall] we played well this weekend."

Offensively, Fisher paced the Panthers in the big game against Amherst with nine of the team's 32 kills. But in her mind the real star of the weekend, and the match, was Minkhorst, who was playing out of her customary position because the team was a player short.

"She really played well," said Fisher. "She really stepped it up because we were missing a player."

Playing at libero instead of in her traditional spot at setter, Minkhorst recorded 14 digs.

The Panthers will be setting and digging on Thursday evening, playing host to local rival, Norwich University at 7 p.m. in Pepin Gymnasium.