Under the watchful eye of a crowded Farley Field House audience, the women's volleyball team had a successful sweep of this year's Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin tournament. The Polar Bears' victories over Bates and Colby on Saturday not only awarded them the title of CBB Champion, but also led them to a season record of 6-1. This marks their most successful start to a season since 2003.
"The current season has started off strong," said Head Coach Karen Corey.
The tournament kicked off with an 11 a.m. match against Bates. With consistently dominant set scores of 25-20, 25-12, and 25-17, excitement was seen in both the crowd and in its players.
"[We have a] competitive, hard-working, and enthusiastic attitude," Gina Lonati '12 said.
Throughout the sets, first year Kristin Hanczor posted 12 kills while Gillian Page '10 contributed an additional nine kills. On the defensive side, Anna Noucas '11 added a match-high 13 digs. Jenna Diggs '10 bridged offense and defense with 35 assists.
"The Bates victory was pretty defiant," Lonati said. "But our match against Colby brought out a lot of character in the team, including perseverance and mental toughness."
The game against Colby began on a note similar to the Bates match with first and second set scores of 25-18 and 28-26. However, in a tight third set the Polar Bears fell to the Mules 23-25. After their first defeat of the day, the Polar Bears rallied back together for a victorious fourth set of 25-15.
"When a team gets down by six, seven, or even eight points, it is easy in volleyball to give up and get the match out of the way to start over with a new one," Lonati said. "Even though this happened to us in two of the four sets against Colby, we battled back."
Noucas, Diggs, and Hanczor were again influential in this battle. While Noucas led the defensive front with 23 digs, Diggs supported the offensive cause with 43 assists, 16 of which Hanczor finished off for kills.
Hanczor's contributions to both the Colby and Bates games builds on her already successful start to a college volleyball career. For her play, Hanczor was honored as NESCAC Player of the Week, along with senior Tufts player Kate Deniston.
"While we were champions of the CBB tournament, our matches against Bates and Colby were not NESCAC matches," Diggs said. "We will play them again in far more important conference matches."
The Polar Bears' attention to overcoming the weaknesses of their opponents will be essential in their upcoming games against Tufts and Amherst, who currently stand in first and second places, respectively. The two matches will have a huge effect on Bowdoin's overall standing in the NESCAC. Corey referred to them as the team's biggest challenges yet, but she is confident heading into the matches.
"Our team is ready and looking to upset both programs," she said.
Both games will be held at Bates on Saturday afternoon: Tufts at 12 p.m., followed by Amherst at 3:30 p.m.