Volleyball Team Splits Pair at Hamilton, Blanks Skidmore

The Middlebury women’s volleyball team bookended a mixed weekend in Hamilton, N.Y. with a shutout win against Colby-Sawyer on Wednesday, Oct. 3 and another shutout Tuesday, Oct. 9 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. against Skidmore. Middlebury boasted a third shutout in the first leg of a double-header against Hamilton on Saturday, Oct. 6 before falling later that day 3-0 to 12th-ranked Cortland State.

Hot off a five game winning streak, the 3-1 week bolstered the Panthers to a 13-4 record with just over two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Wednesday the Panthers opened a stretch of four games in six nights by  defeating Colby-Sawyer in straight sets. The Panthers won the first set after a back-and-forth battle that concluded in a 30-28 victory, while winning the other two with the less-dramatic scores of 25-17 and 25-19.

Tri-captain Megan Jarchow ’14 had 13 kills with a .393 hitting average and Kathryn Haderlein ’16 collected a match best 32 assists and three aces.

On Saturday the squad travelled to Clinton, N.Y. to compete in a tournament against both Hamilton and Cortland State. The first game against the Continentals ended in yet another 3-0 shutout. The Panthers won all three sets by at least seven points, taking the first set 25-12, the second set 25-18 and the third set 25-17.

Olivia Kolodka ’15 contributed 11 kills, while Piper Underbrink ’15 led the team in hitting efficiency at an outstanding 75 percent with nine kills.

Jarchow believes that their success came from the team’s ability to remain calm and collected throughout the entirety of the game against Colby-Sawyer.

“We brought that to the Hamilton match as well,” added Jarchow.

The team followed its win over Hamilton with a game against  a talented Cortland State (23-2) team. The Red Dragons came out on fire, winning the first set 19-25 and the second set 21-25. However, the Panthers came back strong in the third set, testing Cortland State’s endurance with an epic final set, which they ultimately lost 33-35.

Tri-captain Caitlin Barrett ’13, Kolodka and Amy Hart ’14 led the team defensively, combining for 38 of the team’s 54 digs with 22, eight and eight, respectively.

The Panthers rebounded quickly from the loss to Cortland State with a resounding win over Skidmore (15-5). Offensively, Kolodka, Hart and Jarchow led the way, combining for 34 of the team’s 47 kills with with 13,11 and 10, respectively. First-year setter Kathryn Haderlein ’16, meanwhile, racked up 35 assists while Barrett added 21 digs.

The visitors won the three sets by a total of 13 points, 25-21, 25-20 and 25-21.

Middlebury resumes its NESCAC schedule this weekend as the team travels to Amherst on Saturday, Oct. 12 and Trinity on Sunday Oct 13.

Though the team enjoyed a successful week, the loss to Cortland State stuck out in the mind of Barrett and her teammates.

“I think our loss against Cortland this weekend helped us to prepare for the upcoming week,” Barrett said. “Although we lost in three sets, we proved to ourselves that we can hang with anyone. This week will definitely be competitive and I think we’ll be successful as long as we stay focused and play with confidence.”