Sports

Volleyball comeback vs. Williams falls short

By Jack Vissicchio ’17

The volleyball team wrapped up one of their most successful seasons (15-12) in recent memory on Nov. 7. Hamilton suffered a tight loss at the hands of Williams (23-4 overall), the defending conference champion and No. 2 seed, in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC tournament at Tufts. The girls fought hard in their first NESCAC tournament match since 2000, erasing an early two-set deficit, only to fall just short of completing the comeback with a fifth set loss.

In the first two sets, the Continentals hung tight but were eventually overmatched by the consistent play of Williams. Undiscouraged, they were able to flip the script in the third and fourth sets behind the strong play of seniors Erin Casey ’15 and Anna Brown ’15, grinding out victories in both sets by just a combined total of three points. But, in the end, the girls just did not have enough to move on to the next round, as Williams prevailed 15-12 in the fifth.

The Continentals deployed a well-rounded attack throughout the match. Emma Lonadier ’15 and Brown lead the way with 13 kills each while the team also received crucial offensive contributions from Casey and Jessica Weston ’17. Weston was also strong on the defensive end, adding a team-high five blocks, with Margaret O’Brien ’18 followed closely behind with four of her own. Brown led both teams with 28 digs in her final career game. It was yet another strong performance from the senior, as she finished her career second on the all-time digs list with 1,683. Kyndal Burdin ’18 led the team with a total of 42 assists.

Despite the tough loss, the season was an undeniable success for the women’s team.   “Although we lost...it was still a great way to end the season,” says Emily Rosen ’15.  “We executed the game plan exactly and everything we practiced during the week really carried over to the game.  Throughout the whole game, the gym was filled with excitement and the other NESCAC players and coaches were all cheering us on.    And next year’s team will carry the energy and the Hamilton’s reputation!”

Although they are losing key contributors in Casey and Brown next season, the continued development of the program has the future of the team looking bright.

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