After ending last season in the Quarterfinals of the NCAA DIII tournament—the program’s best-ever finish—the women’s volleyball team opened this season 3-1 at the MIT Invitational. With a straight-set win over Colby (0-5 overall) on Tuesday the team stands at 4-1 heading into matchups with Amherst and Williams this weekend.
Although competitors at the MIT Invitational had an extra week to practice as they do not have to comply with NESCAC practice regulations, the Polar Bears still impressed. The team beat Babson (5-2 overall) and Brandeis (3-5 overall) on Friday before taking down Roger Williams (5-4 overall) in a five set nail-biter the next day. Bowdoin, however, fell to tournament champs MIT (8-2 overall) hours later.
The team faired much better at the event than it did last year when it lost three of its four matches, two of them without winning a set. One of last year’s straight-set losses came against MIT, who the Polar Bears later beat in the Sweet 16 to secure their spot in the Elite Eight.
“We were mentally prepared and physically prepared for the weekend,” said Head Coach Erin Cady. Unfortunately we ran out of gas against MIT, but I definitely think talent-wise we match up against them nicely, and if we see them again it will be a different story.”
“Going into MIT, who you know are competitive, it was exhausting,” said captain Quincy Leech ’17. “But, I’m looking forward to seeing them in the postseason.”
Part of the team’s confidence stems from Cady’s dedication and mentality. Last year’s historic season was Cady’s first with the team and despite only recently arriving in Brunswick, Cady found her bearings at Bowdoin fairly quickly.
“She is the kind of person I feel like was always meant to be at Bowdoin. [The transition] was very seamless,” said Leech. “[Former Head Coach Karen] Corey did amazing things building up the program and that is obviously evident looking at our banners. But it’s just really cool that Coach Cady so effortlessly took that and made it into exactly, I think, what Bowdoin volleyball can become.”
In order to make this season as successful as last, the team will have to overcome the loss of last season’s captains, Christy Jewett ’16 and Hailey Wahl ’16. Not only were Jewett and Wahl instrumental in the team’s on-court success—Jewett had nearly 200 more career kills than any other Polar Bear—but also in their dynamic off the court as well. Since the 2014 team had no seniors, last season was their second as captains and that stability in personnel may have helped the team through the coaching transition.
Despite the losses of Jewett and Wahl, the team is confident and views the roster changes as an opportunity to confuse opponents rather than stifle its own offense.
“[Jewett] was obviously an amazing player for us and an offensive threat,” said Cady. “Looking this year at what we have, spreading our offense will be key for us. Other coaches look at our stats and they don’t know who we’re going to set. I think that’s something we really want to push, having that offensive diversity.”
The Polar Bears will put this new offensive strategy to the test tonight when they face Amherst, the only NESCAC team to defeat them last season, at 8 p.m. in Morrell Gymnasium. The team hopes to fix some of the problems it had against MIT, yet still knows all too well Cady won’t be content with victories this weekend.
“One of Cady’s biggest strengths is that she’s always thinking 10 steps ahead,” said Leech. “Once we think we’ve mastered something...she’s always trying to improve and I think that’s going to carry us far.”