Volleyball Team Finishes 2-1 at Coast Guard Invitational

Friday, Sept. 21 and Saturday, Sept. 22, the Middlebury women’s volleyball team returned to the court with three games at the Coast Guard Invitational. After dropping the first game, the Panthers rebounded with two wins on Saturday.

After a five-hour bus ride to New London, Conn. the Panthers were tested immediately by the host school, ultimately falling three sets to one. After coming out strong and winning the first set 25-22, the Panthers were defeated in the next three sets 21-25, 17-25 and 19-25. Catherine Walker ’13, Kelsey DePorto ’14, Samantha Marmolejo ’14 and Karen Matic ’13 led the Bears victory, racking up a total of 33 kills and 27 digs.

The Panthers, meanwhile, received contributions from Piper Underbrink ’15, who contributed an impressive 11 kills and four blocks, while senior Julia Gibbs ’13 totaled 15 digs and 34 assists.

Saturday morning, the girls came out with new momentum, downing DeSales University and Lasell College 3-1 and 3-0, respectively. In the team’s first game against DeSales, Middlebury took the first set 25-16, but lost the second set 13-25. However, after the short break between sets, the Panthers recovered to edge the Bulldogs 26-24 and 25-17 in the last two sets of the game.

The win improved the Panthers to 6-3 on the season heading into their final game of the tournament. Middlebury’s two right hitters, Amy Hart ’14 and Olivia Kolodka ’15, led the team with 24 combined kills — 13 and 11,  respectively — while Julia Gibbs ’13 added 25 assists and senior captain Caitlin Barrett ’13 solidified the Middlebury victory with 17 digs.

The 3-0 shutout against Lasell College was a thrilling way for the Panthers to close out the three-game tournament. With ease, the team quickly defeated the Lasers 25-9, 25-12 and 25-11 in the straight-setter. The standout players of the game included Kolodka, who had eight kills, and first-year setter Katherine Haderlein ’16, who dished out 13 assists. Despite some  impressive individual performances, nine different players registered kills in the game, demonstrating the cohesion within the team — one reason for the squad’s impressive 7-3 start to the season.

Following five consecutive road contests, the Panthers return home this weekend, hosting NESCAC rivals Colby and Bates at Pepin Gymnasium on Friday Oct. 28 and Saturday Oct. 29.