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Ephs Down Vassar, Smith; Advance to Semis at MIT - September 24, 2007
Cambridge, MA - The Williams College women's volleyball team (9-1, 2-0) came from behind to take the final three games against Vassar College 3-2 (26-30, 25-30, 32-30, 30-18, 15-10) and win Pool C at the MIT Invitational. Williams defeated Smith College 3-0 (30-21, 30-28, 30-19) earlier in the day to set up the exciting match that now sends the Ephs into the Saturday's semifinals.
"This is a great gut check and come from behind victory for this team," said head coach Fran Vandermeer. "It was all heart and out working our opponent on defense down the stretch."
With starting first year center Emily Avis out with an injury, senior captain Liz Hirschhorn stepped up for the Ephs. Hirschhorn led the high paced Eph offense by posting 35 assists and 10 digs. First years Eleanor Levine (7 kills, 3 blocks), Nicole Ballon-Landa (6 kills, 3 blocks) and Kate Anderson (9 kills), and sophomore Whitney Hitchcock (9 kills, 2 blocks) also posted strong offensive numbers.
On defense, junior captain Riki McDermott (9 digs) along with sophomores Melissa Pun (10 digs, 5 kills), Alisha Cahlan (8 digs), Chelsea Kubal (10 digs), and Andrea Scioscia (10 digs) were efficient in the 3-0 match.
"Liz [Hirschhorn] was our unsung hero in the first match," said Vandermeer. "She was an awesome quarterback and setter for this team."
The Ephs would have a much more difficult time in the nightcap. Facing a defeat and early exit in the tournament, the Ephs were able to prevail in a hard fought third game, 32-30. The Ephs would complete the comeback by sweeping the final two games, earning themselves a spot in the tournament's final four.
Leading the charge in the Vassar match was last year's NESCAC rookie of the year, Pun. Playing setter, Pun posted 43 assists to go along with 16 digs, 6 kills, 2 blocks, and 3 service aces. A major contributor, as well, was Hitchcock, who tallied 11 digs, 8 kills, and 2 service aces.
"Whitney [Hitchcock] found a way to put the ball away when we needed her to," said Vandermeer. "Melissa [Pun] was really solid in both matches."
McDermott (24 digs), Scioscia (23 digs), Kubal (27 digs, 7 kills), and Levine (21 digs, 3 blocks, 5 kills) were key contributors in the Ephs stellar defense in the final three games. Cahlan (13 kills), Ballon-Landa (13 kills, 5 blocks), and Anderson (4 kills) led the offense down the stretch and helped secure the Ephs another match tomorrow.
"Today we just had two good team wins with everybody chipping in a lot of different ways," said Vandermeer.
The Ephs will now face host MIT in the semifinals tomorrow at 12 PM. Depending on the results, the Ephs will either play in the championship match against the winner of Wellesley and Tufts or in the third place match later in the day. MIT will go into tomorrow's match with a record of 12-1 after winning Pool A. The Ephs have already posted victories this season over both Wellesley and Tufts. |
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