The Bowdoin Women's Volleyball Team was able to salvage a three-loss week with a three-set victory against rival Colby in its first home match of the season.
The weekend started with Friday evening's NESCAC opener against Connecticut College. Though the Camels took the match in only three sets, the final scores of these sets were tight at 33-31, 30-26, and 30-19. Accordingly, the match was not without its moments of Polar Bear success: Skye Lawrence '10 and Captain Amanda Leahy '08 both had 10 kills apiece for Bowdoin.
Coach Karen Corey said, "Connecticut College is exceptional this year, and we played them very closely."
This in itself is a triumph, as with their current record of 9-0, the Camels are leading the division. In addition, Connecticut's Caitlin Tomaska '09 was just named the NESCAC Player of the Week. The outside hitter contributed 18 kills against Bowdoin in Friday's match: Connecticut College Coach Josh Edmed said, "Caitlin took control right away in our match against Bowdoin and set the tone for us for the entire weekend."
Saturday's game against traditional NESCAC foe Trinity College saw a more equal match, though the Trinity Bantams were ultimately victorious with a 3-2 final score.
The set scores here were even closer than against Connecticut, with results of 27-30, 30-21, 25-30, 30-26, and 17-15. In this match, Gillian Page '10?who last week represented Bowdoin on the Endicott College Invitational All-Tournament Team?led the team with 16 kills and 24 digs.
Also turning in curcial performances against Trinity were Captain Margo Linton '08 with 24 assists and 4 aces, and Anna Noucas '11 with 24 digs.
Saturday afternoon saw an equally tight and equally frustrating defeat against Wesleyan University. As with Connecticut and Trinity, the Polar Bears played a very close game with final match scores of 30-21, 18-30, 30-23, and 30-26, resulting in a 3-1 defeat. Page, Linton, and Lawrence were again effective in this match, Page earning 13 kills and 15 digs, Lawrence 11 kills and 14 digs, and Linton 20 assists.
On Wednesday evening, the Polar Bears had their first home match, which culminated in a successful three-set sweep against Colby. The set scores were again close at 30-15, 30-20, and 30-27, but Bowdoin was able to hold the Mules back, which Coach Corey said "was a big mental victory for us."
Page, Linton, and Noucas contributed a respective 10 kills and 10 digs, 20 assists, and 14 digs. Also influential were Jenna Diggs with 12 key defensive digs and Stephanie Drumright '11 with a team-high 12 kills and three solo blocks. Throughout the entire match, Drumright hit at an impressive 70.6 rate.
According to Coach Corey, "First years Anna Noucas and Stephanie Drumright are playing very well right now."
Leahy said, "Our win on Wednesday night against Colby was big after a weekend with disappointing results. We are fortunate that we have the opportunity to compete in a very challenging conference: No team that we face will give us an easy match."
Both Leahy and Corey extended their thanks to the students who attended Wednesday's home match.
This weekend, Bowdoin will have two matches at the MIT invitational. They additionally will face Bates College next Wednesday at 7 p.m.