Volleyball team sweeps Colby NESCAC quad

Author: Nicole Lam

In a week that served as a microcosm for its season as a whole, the Middlebury volleyball team played four close matches, dropping its last home match of the season to Williams 3-1 on Oct. 29 before bouncing back to go 3-0 over the weekend during the NESCAC quad at Colby.

Against Williams, the women pushed forward with strong offense and pulled ahead early in the first game, leading 17-11 at one point. But the Ephs turned on their defense, eventually winning by the tight score of 25-23. In the second game, the story was much the same, as Williams used precise passing to take game two by an identical score of 25-23. Middlebury turned the tables in the third game with strong defense from Natalie DuPre '10 and powerful hits from Lindsay Patterson '08.5 and Jane Handel '12. The 25-19 victory pulled them within one going into the fourth game. Unfortunately, Williams jumped out to an early lead in game four, using a diverse set of attacks and plays to earn a 25-10 win and take the match 3-1.

After the Williams match, the team realized the key to winning these close matches was making adjustments to its mental game, as opposed to the physical game.

"The close games are due to the little things," said Patterson. "We are going to better every ball and eliminate mental errors. When it is close, it is about staying smart and aggressive."

This past weekend, the team put forth strong, competitive matches against all three opponents, Bowdoin, Bates and Colby. To start off the weekend, the Panthers posted a 3-0 win against Bowdoin. Lauren Barrett '11 contributed several good sets for the offense, as well as adding some key defense blocks and digs that kept the team going.

"With our good passes, Barrett moved the set around to many different hitters in many different plays that really helped us to throw the other teams off," said DuPre. "In addition to her great setting, her defense kept us lively."

Saturday morning, Bates' offense caught the team by surprise, but the women rebounded in the three games by adjusting to the Bobcats' quick passing and hits from the middle.

"Caroline Cordle '12 stepped in and made a huge difference right away," said Kate Heath '09, "killing almost every ball she hit, not only by seeing the court really well, but hitting hard to those spots."

The team's confidence continued to hold as its defense completely shut down Colby's offense in a match that it needed to win to go to the NESCAC tournament. The win, which came by the score of 3-1, was a big boost for the women, especially in front of Colby's home crowd.

Offensively, Reisa Bloch '09.5 contributed many important serves and Handel remained consistent on the outside. In addition, Elissa Goeke '12 converted several sets by Barrett.

The difference between this weekend's play and Wednesday's was that the team took control of the close games and stayed consistent, focused and aggressive.

"We really stepped it up mentally and finished games when we needed to, especially against Bowdoin," said Handel. "It was a great time for us to really focus on not getting into ruts and keeping our energy level consistently high."

Following the successful weekend, the Panthers earned the fifth seed for the NESCAC tournament, where they will face Williams in a rematch of last week's contest.

"We are ready for a rematch with Williams. There is no one I would rather beat in the first round than the Ephs," said Patterson.

- Additional Reporting by Peter Baumann