Despite opening with two losses Saturday, the Women's Volleyball Team has recovered quickly. It took the final two games of their tournament on Sunday and then continued the streak, winning again on Wednesday.
The team came in fifth place at the Endicott College Invitational last weekend after losing two matches on Saturday against New Jersey City University and Springfield College, but triumphing over Salve Regina University and Eastern Connecticut University on Sunday.
Saturday's match against New Jersey City, though lost 3-1, was not without positives. Skye Lawrence '10 and Gillian Page '10 led the match with a 11 kills and a team-high 18 digs respectively.
The later match against Springfield was much closer, with set scores of 19-30, 30-28, 25-30, 30-23, and 16-14, resulting in a 3-2 Springfield win.
Page again led the Springfield match with 15 kills and 20 digs, while fellow sophomore Jenna Diggs '10 contributed 10 kills and 17 digs. Co-captain Margo Linton '08 had 23 assists.
This was the match that the incoming first years began to make their mark. Stephanie Drumright '11 had an impressive 14 kills, and Grace Lazarus '11 earned 20 digs. Lawrence, too, earned 20 successful digs.
Having lost their season opener, the Bears hit the court on Sunday with renewed determination, which led them to their first victory of the season, a sound 3-0 sweep of Salve Regina. Diggs was again instrumental in this match, with 12 kills, 15 assists, and 15 digs. Lawrence added 14 digs and Linton 21 assists.
Sunday ended on a similarly positive note with a tight 3-2 victory over Eastern Connecticut with set scores of 28-30, 30-22, 30-16, 17-30, and 15-8. On Sunday, Page was named to the All-Tournament team.
The Polar Bears' winning streak continued on Wednesday evening against the University of New England (UNE). The match started out on a good note as Bowdoin took advantage of UNE's seven serve-receive errors in the opening game to seize immediate control.
Led by nine kills each from Page and co-captain Amanda Leahy '08 as well as 20 assists and four service-aces from Diggs, the match closed as a definitive 3-0 Bowdoin victory.
Discussing her outlook on the season, Coach Karen Corey said, "Our sophomores will provide a lot of offense [by way of] Gillian Page, Skye Lawrence, and Kelsey Howe. Jenna Diggs will run the team from the setting position."
With this week's results, the sophomores indeed demonstrate no intention of letting their team down.
The woman's volleyball team will begin its NESCAC season this Friday in a match against Connecticut College at Colby.
Also on this week's schedule are two Saturday matches against Trinity and Wesleyan, and a Wednesday home match against Colby.