Courtsey of Brian Beard

The volleyball team’s (11–8; 3–5 NESCAC) non-conference performance last weekend helped pave the way to an important conclusion to its regular season this weekend. After holding off Wellesley College (10–8) in a 3–2 win last Friday, the team faced a doubleheader on Saturday against Smith College (23–5) and SUNY Plattsburgh (4–19), splitting the matches. While the team lost 3–1(15–25, 25–23, 23–25, 23–25) against Smith, it rebounded to win over Plattsburgh in straight sets (25–13, 25–15, 25–17).

The Polar Bears faced difficult competition but found an opportunity to develop as a team and shine defensively against an aggressive opponent. Defensive specialist Anna Yeh ’27 had 11 digs, while setter Cameron Shelley ’27 ended the match against Smith with 27 assists. After taking Wellesley to five sets on Friday, the team’s strategy had to change before meeting Smith, who is ranked second in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).

“They’re definitely a pretty tough competition, but I think we did really well to hone into ourselves and to focus on ourselves, because it’s non-conference,” Shelley said. “That was our opportunity to see what we have in the plays and the books.”

Corinne Lamond ’24, opposite hitter and middle blocker, highlighted the role that defense played in the doubleheader, boosting both the team’s performance and its mentality.

“The fact that our defensive specialists were able to get up the ball just really inspired the rest of the team to work as hard as they could, to better each ball that came after them,” Lamond said. “I think that those two defensive movements, the blocking and the defensive digs, are what really inspired the team throughout all three games to give it their all.”

Within thirty minutes after the Smith match, the Polar Bears faced Plattsburgh. In the sweep, Lamond achieved a career-high ten kills, and Paige Butler ’28 had a team-best 17 assists. In the brief turnaround between the two games, the Polar Bears focused on lifting each other up towards victory.

“We really had a lot of people step up in the game and focused on our skills and on celebrating each other’s successes, I think, in a way that really elevated us past our opponent,” Lamond said.

The Polar Bears’s non-conference performance last weekend was crucial in developing the team’s playoff mentality. Establishing this mentality has been a major priority for the Polar Bears as the regular season winds down.

“Last weekend were our only non-conference games left of the season, and we wanted to take each game as a learning opportunity and an opportunity to grow as a whole team and to set ourselves up with our playoff mentality,” Lamond said.

For the past two weeks, the team has focused on building up team morale and developing a playoff mentality to have a memorable end-of-season push.

“[We] have been coming together as a team, lifting each other up, playing hard, playing with everything they have, and I think that’s going to set us up well for this weekend,” Lamond said.

Today, the team will face Connecticut College (15–6; 3–5 NESCAC), ranked one below the Polar Bears in the NESCAC, at home while celebrating Senior Night. On Saturday, its regular season concludes with a match against Trinity College (19–3; 5–3 NESCAC). In preparing for its final in-season conference play, the team looks ahead to the postseason.

“We have seven seniors, so it’s a lot of people to honor and play for,” Lamond said. “And these two games matter a lot. Whereas some teams in the NESCAC are able to kind of fly through their last games of the season without caring too much about wins and losses, these are really important for us in order to make [the] playoffs.”

After their double sweep over Bates College (10–11; 2–7 NESCAC) and Tufts University (12–10; 6–3 NESCAC) two weeks ago, the Polar Bears are positioned for a run in the postseason, which will be influenced by this weekend’s outcome.

While Bowdoin is eagerly anticipating this weekend’s conference play as a culmination of its hard work this season,  the pressure is high in order to secure a bid to the NESCAC playoffs.

“There is a lot at stake, but also I feel like we play our best when we’re relaxed, so it’s kind of hard to balance the two,” Shelley said. “[We’re] really focusing on just being with each other and celebrating our seniors.”

The Polar Bears are looking to finish their regular season with a bang this weekend, coming off of the momentum of their wins against Wellesley and Plattsburgh plus their strong show against Smith.

“I think our goal is to show the rest of the NESCAC and to show ourselves how good of a team we can be from start to finish,” Lamond said. “We’ve talked a lot about this season about finishing games, and I think this weekend will be a great opportunity to show just how deep our team is and how we can come out firing and stay firing throughout.”