Courtsey of Brian Beard

The volleyball team (14–8; 5–5 NESCAC) closed out its regular season with two home-court wins against Connecticut College (15–8; 3–7 NESCAC) and Trinity College (19–5; 5–5 NESCAC) last weekend.

The victories guaranteed the Polar Bears a spot in the upcoming NESCAC playoffs.

It was also senior weekend, an opportunity to highlight the seniors on the team and honor their contributions and work over the last four years.

Joy Liu ’25 said that senior weekend gave the team another source of motivation.

“Being able to play that first set with the girls in my grade, people that I’ve literally gone through the past four years with… there’s just so much emotion on the court. I really felt it, even from the bench and from the home crowd,” Liu said.

Corrine Lamond ’24 echoed Liu’s sentiments.

“Senior weekend is an emotionally intense experience. It’s hard to explain how much time and effort, both physically and mentally, you put into Bowdoin volleyball and then see it all kind of come to an end,” Corinne Lamond ’24 said. “But there was no better team or group of women to play our last games in Morrell with, and no better wins to go out on. It left us with a good, bittersweet feeling.”

The team attacked Friday’s game with a strong, energetic attitude, sweeping Connecticut College (27–25, 25–20, 25–21). Skye LaMendola ’27 had a team-high ten kills, closely followed by Alison Smith ’28 who put up eight kills.

“The team just came out with a lot of fire against Connecticut College and we took care of business.… Our team has really been working with a playoff mentality for the past few weeks, and so we put that playoff mentality into action” Lamond said.

Bowdoin carried its momentum to Saturday’s game against Trinity, beating the Bantams in a tough five-setter (25–20, 22–25, 20–25, 25–22, 15–12). Despite some challenges, the team’s belief in itself never wavered, players said.

Mary John ’25 felt that while Trinity is a tough opponent, the Polar Bears were able to adapt and ultimately come through with a win.

“We trusted in our systems. We trusted in our ability to get there and to adjust. I think that really was the turning point of the fourth set, saying to ourselves—we are not going to let this team beat us right now,” John said. “We are going to show to them that, you know, this is our court, this is our team and we feel confident. No one thought we were going to lose.”

Team Manager Atticus Orbach ’26 also spoke to how the team has built up its confidence throughout the season.

“We talked a lot earlier in the season about not playing afraid. We’ve gotten pretty good at that. When we’re losing points, we don’t get frantic, and we don’t panic,” Orbach said. “We know that we just have to get back to what we do, and that we’re able to do that, and that’ll get us where we need to be.”

All of this momentum is carrying the team to Saturday’s NESCAC quarterfinal matchup against second-seeded Middlebury College (13–10; 7–3 NESCAC). Earlier this season, the Polar Bears lost to the Panthers in a tight five-setter but they are eagerly looking forward to a rematch.

Reflecting on the first game against Middlebury this season, Orbach felt the team’s performance left room for improvement.

“We didn’t play our best that day. We know they’re gonna challenge us, and we’re good enough to beat them,” Orbach said. “Everyone’s really excited to prove that we’re up to this challenge and make some noise in our conference and show people how good we are.”

After a strong regular season, Bowdoin is ready to bring competitive energy and passion to the playoff court. Lamond said the team is excited to continue to support and uplift each other into the postseason.

“The team is absolutely everything this year. This is a group of women that all care so much about each other and about each other’s successes. We’re all cheering and supporting each other,” Lamond said.

Liu emphasized that the team is ready for whatever the postseason brings.

“We all have the same mindset, same goals,” Liu said. “We’re all super competitive and want to win and make a name for ourselves.”