After coming in seventh with mixed results at last weekend's Hall of Fame Tournament, women's volleyball came back on Wednesday to sweep Endicott after having lost to the Gulls twice earlier in the season.
On Wednesday, hopes were high as Bowdoin worked toward turning the table on Endicott at long last. More than mere vindication seemed to rest on the outcome of the game.
"Thus far, we haven't really won a game where we were definitely the underdog, and we keep talking about wanting to pull a great upset to prove the kind of team we are," Gina Lonati '12 said prior to the game. "At Endicott, we want to finally put that talk into action and play tough."
"We want to let our play speak for our team, and not just talk about pulling the upsets," she added.
After their victorious set scores of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-16, no one can accuse Lonati or her teammates of their actions not speaking as loud as their words.
This time, their actions and their skills were heard loud and clear as they not only cruised past the Gulls to victory, but in doing so posted an impressive 16 overall aces against them.
Gillian Page '10 led with six of these aces as well as eight kills and eight digs. Stephanie Drumright '11 also contributed eight kills, while Skye Lawrence '10 made only one error out of 24 total swings that resulted in an additional nine kills for the team. Jenna Diggs '10 supported the offensive front with 22 assists.
Bowdoin opened the Hall of Fame Tournament on Friday on a less positive note after being defeated by Springfield, 3-1.
After losing the first two sets 25-14 and 25-14, the Polar Bears made a brief resurgence in the third set with a score of 23-25, but lost their edge in a 25-12 fourth and final set. Page again led the offense with 12 kills, while Lawrence, Drumright, and Kelsey Howe '10 each added six. Defensively, Anna Noucas '11 established a new team-high with her 18 digs.
After a 3-0 loss to Brandeis on Saturday morning, things were not looking much brighter.
Lawrence, Page, and Diggs were again effective with a respective eight kills, seven kills, and 19 assists, but the team failed to overcome set scores 25-19, 25-13, and 25-22.
The final match of the tournament against Smith began in promising fashion, with the first two sets awarded to Bowdoin at 25-16 and 28-26.
A surprising third set of 7-25 upset the Polar Bears' path to victory, but only briefly. They returned in a definitive fourth match to overcome Smith at 25-20.
Kristin Hanczor '12 took the lead for the Bears with 12 kills and five blocks, while Page posted a respectable 11 kills and 16 digs.
Drumright also contributed seven kills and six aces off of Diggs' total of 35 assists.
Lawrence made short of Noucas' 18 dig team-high against Springfield by launching a new one at 19 digs.
Page was named to the All-Tournament Team after achieving the greatest number of kills for the Bears over the weekend.
"Going in, we were very pumped and prepared, but the outcome was not what we were hoping for," Lonati said. "Despite the one win, our team definitely was not satisfied at the end."
Having learned from the matches against Springfield and Brandeis and armed with the same attitude that finally brought Endicott to its knees, the weekend lineup against Middlebury on Friday and Williams and Hamilton on Saturday has potential for the Polar Bears.
With a conference record of 3-4 and overall record of 16-14, Bowdoin currently stands in No. 6 in the NESCAC rankings.
This weekend will determine how women's volleyball precedes in the season-closing championships.