Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Bowdoin College women's volleyball team survived a thrilling five-set match to claim a 3-2 victory over MIT in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday evening at Williams College.
The Polar Bears (23-8) advance to the "Sweet Sixteen" for the second time in the last three seasons thanks to 27 kills from Christy Jewett, two shy of the school's single-season record. Bowdoin will play the winner of Williams-Babson in the NCAA Regional Final on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
Bowdoin claimed the match by scores of 25-20, 20-25, 25-15, 21-25, 15-13.
The see-saw match saw the teams split the first four sets in similar fashion, taking early leads they would not relinquish. The fifth was a back-and-forth affair, however, as the squads were tied at 2-2, 3-3, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, and 10-10. MIT took their final lead of the match following a Bowdoin service error, but the Polar Bears got a break following a timeout as MIT immediately commited an error of their own to knot the match at 11-11.
Quincy Leech set up Jewett for a kill to give Bowdoin a 12-11 advantage and Michelle Albright put home a point to push Bowdoin's lead to 13-11. MIT closed the gap on a Bowdoin service error, but Bowdoin immediately regained their two-point lead following an attack error by the Engineers, 14-12. MIT wouldn't go away, closing to 14-13 as Jenny Astrachan put home her 14th kill of the day for the Engineers. But MIT's ensuing service found the net, giving Bowdoin a 15-13 victory.
Jewett was simply outstanding, racking up 14 digs to go with her season-high 27 kills. Erika Sklaver posted 10 kills and four blocks for Bowdoin while Michelle Albright had seven kills and 17 digs. Hailey Wahl had seven kills and three services aces for the Polar Bears, who got 21 digs from Katie Doherty and 34 assists from Quincy Leech.
The Polar Bears will be making their second appearance in the NCAA "Sweet Sixteen" as they also reached this far in the tournament in 2012. Bowdoin will be looking for its first-ever trip to the NCAA "Elite Eight" to be held next weekend in Newport News, Va.
