The women's volleyball team opened home play on Tuesday with a decisive 3-0 victory over the University of New England Nor'easters (UNE). The victory improves the team's season record to 3-2 as UNE's record falls to 3-4 overall.
Bowdoin cruised through the first two sets, winning 25-16 and 25-17, before slipping slightly in a closely fought third set that eventually saw a Polar Bear victory 27-25.
Head coach Karen Corey was pleased with the performance of her squad.
"Our attackers did a great job in the first two games," she said. "They earned kills and made very few attacking errors. During the third set, we lost some focus and were behind for most of the game. I was pleased to see the team persevere and pull off the win. [Junior] Gina Lonati and [first year] Taylor Vail were strong passers and defenders for us."
The sophomore class performed particularly well as Hillary Cederna '13 earned 10 kills and six digs, and Melissa Haskell '13 came away with seven kills and 11 digs. Stephanie Bond '13 led the team with 17 assists.
Haskell, an outside hitter from Medfield, Mass. expressed optimism for the team's prospects as the season continues.
"We were glad to get a win but think there are also some areas in which we hope to improve over the season," she said. "New players are still getting used to the team, while older players are still getting back in the swing of things themselves. Overall, I'm very optimistic about this upcoming season and what the team can accomplish."
Last weekend, the Polar Bears opened their 2010 season at the Endicott Invitational in Beverly, Mass.
The team started off the weekend on Friday with a 3-1 loss to Plymouth State University, but the Polar Bears quickly redeemed themselves in a tightly contested 3-2 victory over MIT.
The team's performance on Saturday was similarly mixed with a 3-0 win over Salve Regina and a 3-0 loss to the Middlebury Panthers. The team placed fourth in the tournament overall.
In recognition of her performance over the course of the weekend, Melissa Haskell was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The team will begin the NESCAC season at Colby on Friday at 6 p.m.