Ephs fall to Ohio Northern in the NCAA Elite 8
BLOOMINGTON, IL- The Williams College volleyball team (28-13) saw its magical season come to end Thursday night in the NCAA Elite 8. The New England regional champion Ephs fell to #8 Ohio Northern (34-4), 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-13), in the NCAA quarterfinals hosted by Illinois-Wesleyan.
"This was a heck of a season for us and I'm really proud of the way this team persevered all year," said head coach Fran Vandermeer. "Both teams played hard from the first point to the last tonight but Ohio Northern was more experiences and more poised throughout the match. ONU served and passed much better than we did tonight."
Coming off an impressive run, which saw Williams claim the NESCAC and New England titles as the fourth seed in both tournaments, the Ephs could not answer the potent attack of the Polar Bears.
Ohio Northern had reached the NCAA quarterfinals by defeating #5 Wittenberg and #3 Washington (Mo.) on consecutive nights to claim the Great Lakes region championship. The win was their 27th straight.
Trailing 10-2 in the first set, the Ephs were able to put together an 8-2 run and pull within 12-10. However, the Polar Bears made sure that was the closest margin as they ended the set on a 13-6 run.
The Ephs would not get any closer the rest of the match, as the Polar Bears jumped out to leads of 16-6 and 17-5 in the final two sets, and did not allow the Ephs any chance to make a comeback.
Despite the defeat, the Ephs were led by sophomore Nicole Ballon-Landa (12 kills) and juniors Chelsea Kubal (12 digs) and Melissa Pun (12 digs). Rounding out the numbers for the Ephs were senior Riki McDermott (8 digs), juniors Whitney Hitchcock (2 blocks) and Andrea Scioscia (7 digs), and sophomores Emily Avis (21 assists) and Kate Anderson (9 kills).
"We received great leadership all year from Riki [McDermott] and Chelsea [Kubal], and we will miss Riki [McDermott] very much," said Vandermeer. "However, this is a young team that will learn from this season and come back with much more experience next season."
The Ephs end their season with an impressive 28 victories, NESCAC and New England titles, and a lot of momentum to build on for next year.
"We are also very proud of the support from our fans tonight," said Vandermeer. "Not only were parents in attendance, but there was a lot of support both in the stands and on the sideline from alumni and Williams fans even though we were in Bloomington."
This match also marked the final time that the sidelines will be patrolled by the all-time wins leader in Williams volleyball history, as head coach Fran Vandermeer ends her nine-year coaching career at Williams. Under her tenure, the Ephs compiled a record of 254-73, captured six NESCAC titles, and made four trips to the Elite 8.
