Ephs down Scranton, RIT at Nazareth Invitational

ROCHESTER, NY-  Playing in their first match in six days, the Williams College women's volleyball team (11-3, 2-0) posted two impressive victories in the opening day of the Nazareth Invitational.  The Ephs won six of seven games on the day en route to a 3-1 (36-30, 30-21, 30-16, 30-21) win over RIT and a 3-0 (30-24, 30-25, 30-25) victory over Scranton.

"Today we showed our most consistent serve receive passing of the season," said head coach Fran Vandermeer.  "Our offense was in sync in both matches."

In the Eph's opening match against RIT, sophomore Chelsea Kubal and first year Emily Avis returned from injuries to contribute key performances.  Avis, at setter, paced the offense with 41 assists and notched 8 digs.  Kubal tallied 10 digs, while fellow sophomore Melissa Pun recorded 12 kills and 11 digs of her own. 

Captains Riki McDermott and Liz Hirschhorn also had good matches on the day.  Coming off her impressive performance at setter in the MIT Invitational, Hirschhorn came in to post 4 assists, while McDermott tallied 15 digs and 2 service aces.  Sophomores Whitney Hitchcock (8 kills, 3 blocks) and Andrea Scioscia (15 digs, 5 service aces), and first years Eleanor Levine (8 kills, 3 blocks), Kate Anderson (12 kills, 3 blocks), and Nicole Ballon-Landa (10 kills, 7 blocks) rounded out the numbers for the Ephs.

"The RIT match started slowly, but we played much better as the match went on," said Vandermeer.  "It was a good finish and a good first win of the tournament."

In the night cap, it was the talented first year class that led the Ephs to a decisive victory over Scranton.  Anderson posted 11 kills and notched the game winning block, while Avis (12 digs, 34 assists), Levine (7 kills, 3 blocks), and Ballon-Landa (8 kills, 3 blocks) all performed well.  Scioscia (11 digs, 3 service aces), McDermott (10 digs), Pun (12 digs, 3 service aces, 2 blocks, 6 kills), Kubal (9 digs), and Hitchcock (6 kills, 5 blocks) all played exceptionally to keep the Ephs undefeated for the weekend.

"This was a match that was an important step forward for our young team," said Vandermeer.  "Emily [Avis] did an excellent job running the offense all day and it was a good defensive effort all around."

Williams continues play at the Nazareth Invitational Saturday September 29.  The Ephs open against host Nazareth at 12:30 PM and then conclude the tournament with a 2:30 PM match against Cortland State.