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Ephs down Amherst, claim NESCAC title - November 05, 2007
Amherst, MA - One Year Later: Same Scenario, Different Venue. The Williams College women’s volleyball team (26-7) won its fifth straight match Saturday to set up a meeting with archrival Amherst in the NESCAC Championship match. The Ephs posted a decisive 3-0 (30-21, 30-26, 30-20) victory over Tufts in the NESCAC semifinals, and now looks to avenge a loss to the Lord Jeffs in last years NESCAC final.
“This was one of our most consistent defensive matches of the season,” said head coach Fran Vandermeer. “This was a good win over a strong opponent.”
Unlike Friday’s quarterfinal match against Middlebury, the Ephs started strong and never looked back. After posting a ten point win in game one, the Ephs jumped out to a 14-8 lead in game two, and a 24-14 lead in the decisive game three. The Jumbos had come into the match having won seven straight NESCAC matches, including Friday night’s win over Trinity in the quarterfinals.
The key for the Ephs was the excellent block attack, which neutralized the Jumbo attack throughout the match. Sophomores Whitney Hitchcock (4 blocks, 8 kills, 3 digs, 2 service aces) and Alisha Cahlan (3 blocks, 9 kills), and first years Nicole Ballon-Landa (4 blocks, 14 kills, 3 digs) and Eleanor Levine (1 block, 11 kills, 6 digs) led the Eph presence at the net. Pacing the Eph offense was first year setter Emily Avis, who tallied 45 assists to go along with 10 digs.
On defense, when the Jumbos were able to penetrate the Eph play at the net, junior captain Riki McDermott (10 digs), and sophomores Melissa Pun (22 digs, 11 kills) and Chelsea Kubal (20 digs) stepped up and shut down Tufts’ offensive attack.
After Amhert’s 3-1 win over Conn College earlier in the day, the Ephs and Lord Jeffs now meet in the NESCAC Championship match for the second year in a row. In last year’s final, which Williams hosted, the Lord Jeffs rebounded from a game one loss to sweep the final three and win the NESCAC title.
The Ephs look to return the favor Sunday on Amherst’s home court at 1 PM. The winner will claim the NESCAC title and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
Ephs down Amherst, claim NESCAC title
Amherst, MA - The Williams College women’s volleyball team (27-7) came out on the winning end of a 3-2 (30-27, 27-30, 30-27, 25-30, 15-9) marathon match and claimed the 2007 NESCAC Championship title Sunday afternoon in Amherst. In a rematch of last year’s final, it was the Ephs who found themselves holding the NESCAC Championship trophy after a 5-0 run to start the fifth game proved too much for Amherst to overcome.
“I have never had a team work so hard to win a championship,” said head coach Fran Vandermeer. “You start with the leadership. Liz [Hirschhorn] and Riki [McDermott’s] leadership has been consistent, energetic, positive, and has pushed our team to be better all season long.”
Like last year’s final, the Ephs were able to start strong and hold off a late Amherst charge to take the first game before eventually dropping the second. Unlike last year, however, the Ephs were then able to post a close and crucial victory in game three. While they were unable to rally all the way back from a deficit and take game four, the Ephs came out strong in the decisive game five and never looked back.
“I’ve never had a team full of players who made significant contributions all season long,” said Vandermeer. “And this team truly has eleven players who have contributed and done their job.”
For the second straight match, the Eph block was superb and instrumental in quieting a potent Lord Jeff offense. First year Nicole Ballon-Landa had an exceptional match, posting a season high 7 blocks (1 solo), to go along with a team-high 23 kills and 5 digs. Sophomore Alicia Cahlan added 4 blocks and smashed 18 kills.
Pacing the offense, first year Emily Avis tallied a NESCAC Championship match record 71 assists, to go along with 15 digs and 3 blocks. Sophomore Melissa Pun smashed 14 kills and also posted 21 digs and 3 blocks.
“I think our team showed a lot of heart,” said Vandermeer. “We bounced back from a tough fourth game and in the fifth game we started with confidence and came out on top.”
For the defense, the Ephs were led by sophomore Chelsea Kubal, who had a season high 36 digs, and junior captain Riki McDermott, who had 12 digs.
After not seeing much playing time in the second half of the season, first year Kate Anderson smashed an impressive 11 kills coming off the bench. Anderson helped fill in for injured sophomore Whitney Hitchcock, who despite a hand injury, posted 4 kills, 2 blocks, and 2 timely service aces. Rounding out the numbers for the NESCAC champion Ephs were first year Eleanor Levine (7 kills, 10 digs) and sophomore Andrea Scioscia (5 digs).
“I think that this young team had a very tough schedule early and we took our lumps early and had some tough losses, but our team never got down. We learned from our losses and got better,” said Vandermeer. “And when it really counted, in this match, everybody put their best efforts out there.”
After earning an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, the Ephs now wait to see who they will face in the first round of the regional, which will most likely be hosted by MIT later in the week.
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