Ephs fall to MIT, Wellesley at MIT Invitational
CAMBRIDGE, MA- After coming from behind to win the final three games against Vassar, the Williams College women's volleyball team (9-3, 2-0) dropped two 3-2 matches en route to a fourth place finish in the MIT Invitational. The Ephs fell to host MIT in the first match (30-17, 32-34, 30-22, 26-30, 15-13) and then lost to Wellesley (30-19, 22-30, 26-30, 30-19, 15-10) later in the day.
Coming off a long night Friday, the Ephs showed signs of fatigue and were hampered by injuries most of the day. With starting first year setter Emily Avis and junior Molly Hunter already out for the day, the Ephs suffered another blow, as sophomore Chelsea Kubal's injury midway through the MIT match ended her day.
"[The MIT match] was a match between two good teams and we look forward to seeing them again down the road," said head coach Fran Vandermeer. "Our young players showed a lot of heart in that match to make adjustments defensively after game one."
After the aforementioned game one, the Ephs battled back to take a 2-1 lead and actually led the decisive game five before dropping the match. Despite the loss, the Ephs were led by sophomores Andrea Scioscia, Melissa Pun, and Whitney Hitchcock. Defensive specialist Scioscia was just that, posting a team high 27 digs. Pun, filling in for Avis, posted a season high 49 assists to go along with 17 digs and 4 blocks, while Hitchcock tallied 12 kills, 7 digs, and 5 blocks.
Junior captain Riki McDermott also had a strong match, recording 21 digs and 2 service aces, while sophomore Alisha Cahlan (10 kills, 2 blocks) and first years Kate Anderson (16 kills), Eleanor Levine (10 kills, 23 digs), and Nicole Ballon-Landa (5 kills, 3 blocks, 2 service aces) had impressive contributions despite the defeat.
The Ephs would next look to rebound against a team they had already beaten this season. Coming off a 3-1 win earlier in the season, Williams, however, was unable to duplicate that same result in the third place match against Wellesley.
"In [the Wellesley match], our energy was inconsistent and fatigue played a factor," said Vandermeer.
One of the bright spots for the Ephs was the play of senior captain Liz Hirschhorn. Coming off an impressive performance at setter against Smith, Hirschhorn recorded 40 assists to go along with 3 kills, 7 digs, and 3 blocks. Levine also had an excellent all-around match, smashing a team-high 17 kills and posting 18 digs. Rounding out the play for the Ephs were Scioscia (18 digs), Ballon-Landa (8 blocks, 6 kills), Hitchcock (3 blocks, 4 kills), McDermott (5 kills, 5 blocks, 9 digs), Anderson (5 kills), Pun (11 digs, 5 kills, 2 service aces), and Cahlan (8 kills, 6 digs).
MIT swept Tufts in three games to claim the championship title. Melissa Pun was the only Eph named to the all-tournament team.
"I was really proud of Liz [Hirschhorn's] performance all weekend, as well as Mellisa [Pun]," said Vandermeer. "No matter what the score, Andrea [Scioscia] and Riki [McDermott] were great on defense, and Eleanor [Levine] showed great toughness against Wellesley."
Williams will next see action at the Nazareth Invitational, September 28-29. The Ephs play RIT (5:00 PM) and Scranton (7:00 PM) on Friday September 28th and host Nazareth (12:30 PM) the following day.
