The volleyball team went 2-1 at the Hall of Fame Invitational last weekend. Hosted by Mount Holyoke, the Invitational allows New England teams the opportunity to compete in out-of-conference match play.
“What [this tournament] does is force top teams that don’t usually play each other to come into head-to-head competition to see who truly is the stronger team,” said Head Coach Karen Corey.
Bowdoin played matches against Bridgewater State, Wellesley College and Wheaton College, all New England squads that do not compete in the NESCAC.
Wellesley stood out as the weekend’s toughest opponent, giving Bowdoin their first loss in over a month.
“[Wellesley] has been ranked really high in the region, so we knew they’d be tough competition,” said Emi Gaal ’15. “We went into the game knowing that, but we couldn’t quite pull it out.”
Wellesley topped Bowdoin 3-0, with just eight total errors throughout the whole match.
The team treated the game as a learning experience.
“I think that this weekend, above all, was really important in learning that we are beatable,” said Sophia Cornew ’14. “It is a reminder to our team that no one will just hand over a win because we are Bowdoin volleyball.”
Despite the disappointing loss to Wellesley, the Bears were able to rebound for a big win against Wheaton. The victory gave the team 20 wins on the season. This is the third consecutive year that the team has reached such a milestone.
“The team continues to be great at adapting to new situations, [especially with] new teams on the court,” Corey said. “This weekend was nice because it gave a chance for all the players to play. Whoever was on the court was adaptable. They focused on competing hard no matter who was next to them.”
The tournament games did not feature the same historical rivalries of NESCAC competition, but Bowdoin brought its A-game nonetheless. These efforts were rewarded not only on a team-wide basis, but individually as well. Taylor Vail ’14 received an All-Tournament Team honor. Vail has greatly contributed to the growing success of the team in recent years.
“The culture of our program has changed over time,” said Corey. “We now have experienced volleyball players—players committed and dedicated to winning a conference championship. A couple years ago, winning the conference was just a wish, a dream; now it is an expectation.”
Bowdoin’s three seniors—Vail, Cornew and Ellie Brennan—have become the most successful volleyball class in school history. They have won 93 games thus far, surpassing the 92 wins accumulated by the Class of 2012.
“We are fortunate to be a part of Bowdoin volleyball becoming a very strong program,” said Cornew. “We have incredible freshmen and sophomores and a great recruiting class coming in. This team will be a successful team for a long time to come.”
For the Bears, the Hall of Fame Invitational was just the beginning of the final stretch of their regular season. With games against Middlebury (16-6, 35 NESCAC) and Hamilton (4-16, 0-8) coming up—and a conference championship —they are motivated to build on their successes to date. They will look to cement their No. 2 seed in the NESCAC tomorrow at Middlebury at 8:00 pm.