MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - For the second-straight match, the Bowdoin
College women's volleyball team rallied from an 0-2 deficit,
picking up a key NESCAC win at Wesleyan on Friday evening. The
Polar Bears (9-5, 3-0 NESCAC) bounced the Cardinals (4-5, 1-2
NESCAC), 20-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-19, 15-11.
Bowdoin was led by 13 kills each from junior Kristin Hanczor and
first-year Ellie
Brennan. Hanczor also had a team-high six blocks.
Sophomore setter Stephanie Bond racked up 36
assists while freshman libero Taylor Vail
led her squad with 24 digs. Freshman Luisa
LaSalle had a team-best four aces. Wesleyan got a match-high 20
kills from junior Casey Reed and 43 assists from sophomore setter
Laura Yim.
Wesleyan had built substantial leads in each of the first two sets
and hung on to gain a 2-0 lead in sets. But with the score
15-15 in the third set, Bowdoin pulled ahead, 22-17, and went on
for a 25-20 victory, swinging the momentum in the Polar Bears'
favor. Bowdoin led throughout the fourth set, moving ahead by
its largest margin in any set during the evening, 18-10.
Though the Cardinals narrowed the difference to 20-18, Bowdoin
scored five of the next six points for the 25-19 victory, evening
the match at two sets apiece.
Bowdoin broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth and deciding set, going ahead
8-4, and eventually led 12-6. Once again, Wesleyan rallied to
tighten the score at 13-11, but the final two points went to the
visitors, who defeated Wesleyan for the second year in a row in
five sets after ending a 19-match losing streak vs. Wesleyan last
year.
On Saturday, Bowdoin takes on both Conn. College and Trinity in
NESCAC matches in Middletown.
Photo courtesy of Wesleyan University Sports Information
and Steve McLaughlin Photography
