Courtesy of Brian Beard

Continuing a long stretch of conference play, the volleyball team (10–3; 3–3 NESCAC) recently notched wins against Amherst College (5–6; 2–4 NESCAC), Hamilton College (4–9; 0–6 NESCAC) and Middlebury College (11–7; 4–3 NESCAC), and fell to Williams College (14–2; 5–2 NESCAC) in a five-set loss.

Leading up to these matches, the team focused on developing skills specific to each upcoming match. Right side hitter Alison Smith ’28 reflected on this in an email to the Orient.

“We start each week with a collective goal in mind, usually based off of something we want to improve upon for the upcoming game or something that we might face often against whatever team we are playing for that weekend,” Smith wrote. “Throughout the week, we build up that skill and focus on challenging ourselves and each other, and by the time it’s game day we have focused in and really built up that specific skill along with our overall play.”

Middle blocker Haley Campau ’27 added how the team’s structured practices have translated into success on match days.

“The team has been put through some really tough drills in practice so that games start to feel easy,” Campau wrote in an email to the Orient. “Our coaches really want us to feel prepared for the hardest possible situations in games, so when they don’t happen it feels like a cake walk.”

Specifically, the players worked on fine tuning their defense.

“We play a lot of tough offensive teams in the NESCAC, so making sure each person on the court is doing their job … has made us so much more of a unit,” Smith wrote. “This starts with the block, so we worked on that for a while and have been working on defending against faster hits or tips and getting touches on them for a while as well.”

Campau noted another new strategy of tracking statistics during practices.

“We kept track of kills versus errors and how good our passes were on a numeric scale, so we would all feel the pressure that every move you make and every contact you make on the ball matters,” Campau wrote.

The team was able to see this work pay off in each of its matches, as noted by setter Cameron Shelley ’27 in an email to the Orient.

“We really hit our stride after an exciting and offense-dominated game during Amherst,” Shelley wrote. “Middlebury is a very even-keeled team, but we were still able to bring the energy and focus on playing our best game.”

Against Hamilton, the team won the first set, but Hamilton fought back to level it in the second. The Polar Bears were able to adapt and react to the challenge.

“Being able to come through against Hamilton was really good because the first three sets were so close, and [in] the first set and the third set we pulled through even when it was a close game,” Smith wrote. “Those types of battles challenge our team, and it was amazing to see it pay off and have a great win.”

Leaning into its strengths and playing its game paid off as the team closed the match with two solid sets.

“We knew it was a matter of playing our game,” Campau wrote. “Our coaches like to say that the best way you can pay a team respect is by playing to the best of your ability, so that’s what we did.”

The five-set loss to Williams left the team hungry and excited for more.

“Williams brought a lot of energy and big hitters, and we really capitalized on sticking with what was working,” Shelley wrote. “Williams was a great matchup, and I hope to see them again in the tournament.”

The players described their team dynamic as passionate about supporting each other and creating a positive, upbeat game-day environment.

“Cheering and coming together is such a big part of [our team], and it makes each point so much more fun [when] supporting your teammates. I love that about this team, and I think it gives us a boost in critical or tough moments,” Smith wrote.

The Polar Bears have just a few more games left in the regular season, but their sights are set on making it to the NESCAC championship tournament. The team will host Bates College (8–7; 2–5 NESCAC) tonight at 7 p.m. and Tufts University (14–2; 6–1 NESCAC) tomorrow at noon for the team’s Senior Week matches.