Following this past weekend's MIT Invitational tournament with an even 2-2 performance, the Bowdoin Women's Volleyball Team this Wednesday led a 3-0 sweep over Bates College. This was not the only 3-0 sweep of the week: On the contrary, this week the Polar Bears did nothing halfway, as each of their matches constituted only three definitive sets. Friday saw the Bears sweep Muhlenberg College 3-0, while being swept by MIT themselves the same day. Similarly, on Saturday morning Bowdoin definitively beat Smith College 3-0 before losing to Springfield with the same final score. That afternoon however, the week ended on a positive note with the 3-0 Bates victory, thus bringing the Bears' total season record to an even 7-7.
The MIT Tournament opened on a less than positive note for Bowdoin with the Friday loss against MIT. However, even this 3-0 defeat had its bright moments: Gillian Page '10 led the team with nine kills, seconded by Stephanie Drumright '11, who contributed seven.
In their second tournament that night, the Polar Bears would draw on these statistics to bounce back with a 3-0 victory against Muhlenberg. Here Drumright proved even more of a essential to the Bowdoin effort, leading the team with 19 kills in 29 attempts?and only one error in the entire match. Page was again effective with 11 kills while fellow sophomore Jenna Diggs added 22 assists. In the Muhlenberg match, sophomore Skye Lawrence's 15 digs were matched by those of first year Grace Lazarus. In addition, an impressive total of four players reached double digits of total digs.
Saturday opened on an equally high note, with game sets of 30-26, 31-29, and 30-21 adding up for Bowdoin's definitive sweep over Smith College. Middle player Drumright contributed a team-high 17 kills, followed by captain Amanda Leahy '08 with nine and Lawrence with eight. Lawrence additionally contributed 13 digs to the match, as did Page with 22 digs, and Anna Noucas '11 with 21.
The tournament closed on the more sour note of the loss against Springfield College. The Polar Bears opposed Springfield once earlier this season at the Endicott Invitational, in a match that ended in a closer 3-2 Bowdoin defeat. This time, however, with set scores of 30-24, 30-21, and 32-30 Springfield swept Bowdoin 3-0, albeit with an extremely tight final set.
In Wednesday's match against Bates, the Polar Bears started the first match slowly, but quickly regained control to triumph over the Bobcats with solid set scores of 30-25, 30-18, and 30-25. Drumright was influential with her 10 kills and three blocks, while Linton contributed 20 assists and Noucas 17 digs.
"Bates started out strong in the first game, but once we figured out how to put the ball away there was no turning back," Linton said. "Our determination to not give them any points they didn't deserve really pushed us through."
"After some ups and downs this weekend, we were really excited to get back on the court against a rival opponent and show them what we've got," Linton added.
The Polar Bears will return to Bates this weekend for the Bates Invitational Tournament. There they will face UMass-Dartmouth and the Coast Guard Academy on Friday, and Worcester St. and Rivier on Saturday. On Wednesday, the team will go up against Colby for the second time this season, having previously swept the Mules 3-0.