Ephs head back to Medford -- this time for NCAA Tournament to play Keene State

Timing is everything.

Fran Vandermeer's 25-12 Williams volleyball team has won nine matches in a row and the fourth-seeded Ephs captured the NESCAC title this past weekend at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.,  by downing Middlebury 3-1, Tufts 3-2 and Amherst 3-1 to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tourney.

This is the second year in a row that the Ephs have won the NESCAC title and earned a trip to the NCAAs. All-time Williams will be making its ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and sixth under Vandermeer.

Williams will open NCAA New England Regional play on Thursday at 1:00 PM at Tufts vs. Keene State. All of the contests in this regional will air on Tufts University's Jumbocast.com as a video webcast that may be accessed for free. Broadcasts on Jumbocast usually begin 5 minutes before the scheduled start of the contest.

When you have your health you have everything.

During the preseason Vandermeer knew that she had a deep and talented team, what she did not know was how many key injuries the team would be faced with. To sum it up – it has only been recently that the Eph team has been in good health up and down the roster, and the team's play is reflecting that. "I'm just so proud of how hard this team has worked," stated Vandermeer.

Williams will face the Keene State Owls who recently won the Little East Conference. The Owls have won their last 12 matches and have a record of 29-8. "I don't know a lot about Keene, but I do know that they've beaten Springfield and Connecticut College, so they will be a good test for us," noted Vandermeer.

Keene is led by senior middle blocker Brittany O'Bryant who has 308 kills on the year with a hitting percentage of .266. She averages 3.06 kills per set and she also leads the team with 150 blocks (1.18/gam). Junior setter Jordan Pokryfki averages 9.27 set assists per contest. Sarah Petersen a senior defensive specialist/libero has notched 685 digs on the year and is averaging 5.35 a set.

The Ephs have had many leaders over the course of the season with all of the injuries they have encountered. Sophomore Kate Anderson leads in kills with 395, which averages out to 3.06 a set. Her hitting percentage is .265. The prime setter has been sophomore Emily Avis, although juniors Chelsea Kubal and Melissa Pun have filled in as needed. Avis has recorded 824 set assists this season for an average of 8.67 per set.

Juniors Whitney Hitchcock and Chelsea Kubal lead in blocks and digs, respectively. Hitchcock has denied the opposition 112 times on the year (0.81/set), while Kubal averages 3.38 digs per set and has 460 on the year.

Junior defensive specialist Andrea Scioscia is the team leader in service aces having delivered 45.

The winner of the Williams vs. Keene State match will face the winner of the Springfield (31-4) and Maine Maritime (19-8) match on Friday at Tufts.