Ephs finish regular season win two conference wins

NEW LONDON, CT-  Strong late season runs, in sports, have a way of defining a season.  For the Williams College women’s volleyball team (24-7, 9-1), after Saturday, their late season run includes an impressive 13 victories in 15 matches.  The Ephs did not drop a game in the regular season’s final NESCAC weekend and notched two more conference victories in the process to finish 9-1 in NESCAC play.

Playing host Connecticut College in the first match of the day, the Ephs handed the Camels their first home defeat of the season, 3-0 (30-25, 30-17, 32-30).  The Camels had, earlier in the season, defeated Amherst, handing the NESCAC’s top team their only conference loss of the season.

In the regular season finale, the Ephs defeated Trinity 3-0 (30-25, 30-27, 30-19).  The win was extra special for senior captain Liz Hirschhorn, whose only kill of the match turned out to be the game three’s decisive thirtieth point.  With the score 29-19, Hirschhorn successfully performed a second ball dump, which caught the Bantams off guard and ensured that her final regular season match was a victory.

“There was a good combo on the floor today and everyone’s confidence is running high,” said head coach Fran Vandermeer.  “We are really feeding off each other and playing some aggressive and efficient volleyball.”

Against the Camels, the key was the block and service game of the Ephs.  Sophomores Andrea Scioscia (2 service aces, 10 digs), Melissa Pun (4 service aces, 8 kills, 15 digs), and Chelsea Kubal (2 service aces, 15 digs) led a strong serve attack, while sophomores Whitney Hitchcock (5 blocks, 7 kills with no errors on 12 swings) and Alisha Cahlan (5 blocks, 13 kills), and first year Nicole Ballon-Landa (2 blocks, 7 kills) were strong up front.  First years Emily Avis (36 assists) and Eleanor Levine (12 digs, 4 kills) also posted strong numbers.  

“This was a good match to start the day,” said Vandermeer.  “Conn College is a strong team on their home court, but we played with the intensity we’ve been expecting and played aggressive offensively.”

There were no cliffhangers in the season finale, as the Ephs took control of the match from the start en route to the 3-0 victory over the Bantams.  Leading the offense for the Ephs were Avis (45 assists, 11 digs), Pun (12 kills, 20 digs), Ballon-Landa (13 kills, 5 blocks), Hitchcock (5 kills, 3 blocks), first year Kate Anderson (2 kills), and Cahlan (15 kills, 2 blocks), who has posted great numbers down the stretch for this surging Ephs team.  

On defense, the usual suspects, junior captain Riki McDermott (12 digs), Kubal (19 digs), Scioscia (12 digs, 2 service aces), and Levine (9 digs, 6 kills), were strong for the Ephs.  The aforementioned Liz Hirschhorn also added 2 assists to go along with her key kill.  

“I thought we were consistent and when Trinity would make a run, we would regroup and we were confident in each other,” said Vandermeer.  “Overall, we had excellent serving all weekend and that would give us better opportunities on offense.  All our players served tough and gave us a lot of free ball opportunities, which we took advantage of.”

With the regular season in the rear view mirror, the Ephs now travel to Amherst next weekend for the NESCAC Championships.  The second seeded Ephs look to avenge a loss in last season’s NESCAC Championship match to Amherst.  The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Championships.