When the Jumbos and the Colby Mules locked heads on Sunday for the NESCAC Championship, little separated the team on the court. In fact, while the Mules swept the match, all three games were settled by a total of eight points.
The one thing that did separate the two teams, however, was the level of experience. While the Jumbos only had three upperclassmen and two seniors dressing for the match, the Mules boasted a roster that included four seniors and two juniors.
Playing in a possible season-ending match, the senior Mules had all the more reason to play their best. Senior Caitlin Cleaver finished the match with 15 kills and 25 digs, and her classmates had big games as Kaitlin Adams and Mariah Daly had 10 kills apiece and Megan Devlin racked up 31 digs and eight kills.
"It was an advantage for Colby," senior co-captain Courtney Evans said of the age gap. "Having that court experience gives you the mental toughness to bounce back when you make mistakes."
While each game was tight all the way, that mental toughness came through and the Mules were able to finish strong each time to win. The experience of the Mules contrasted with the inexperience of the Jumbos, who at times had four freshmen on the court.
But this assumed inexperience was not apparent in the play of the team's freshmen. Caitlin Dealy and Maya Ripecky led the team with 25 and 24 digs respectively, and Natalie Goldstein did her part with 19. Setter Kaitlin O'Reilly also contributed 40 assists.
The freshmen turned in solid play throughout the tournament. In the team's second round match with Trinity, Dealy was third on the team with 10 kills. She took her sets from O'Reilly, who piled up 48 assists in the effort. On defense, Goldstein led the team with 29 digs, and together the freshmen combined for 97 of the team's 135 digs in the match.
In the opening match of the tournament against Amherst, the first postseason opportunity for the young Jumbos, O'Reilly put up big assist numbers with 45 in just three games. Indicative of the quality of her sets, the team hit for a .341 percentage.
Dealy tied for the team lead with 14 kills and two aces in the match, and Goldstein had 15 digs. Ripecky did not play in the match.
"[The freshmen] played great," Evans said. "They definitely stepped up to the challenge. They didn't know what to expect. Every team stepped up in the tournament and the freshmen were right there with us."
The freshmen have been asked to play a big role all season.
"They played like it was any other game," sophomore Katie Wysham said. "All season, they've been huge and this weekend was no different."
In a pressure situation, the freshmen relied on the composure that has allowed them to perform all season.
"Our freshmen are phenomenally composed," coach Cora Thompson said. "They're competitors. They don't get too high and they don't get too low. They may be freshmen, but they don't play like it."
Still, despite the play of the freshmen, experience does make a difference in a potentially season-ending situation.
"Those four seniors were swinging for their careers and that's something that I don't think that freshmen can understand," Thompson said.
Although the Jumbos will likely only have two seniors next season, the six freshmen and four sophomores on this season's roster will return in 2006 knowing what it feels like to lose a league championship. With the added experience, that's a feeling they may not have to go through again.
