The NESCAC volleyball's reigning champion, the Williams Ephs, successfully defended their crown with a four-set win over rival Amherst on Sunday in Cousens Gym, with the two teams clashing in the title game for the third straight year.
Two years ago, Amherst defeated Williams in four sets in Williamstown, Mass. Last year, Williams upended Amherst on the Lord Jeffs' home court. But this year, for the first time since 2001, the host school -- Tufts -- did not make the finals. Williams and Amherst met as the tourney's respective third and fourth seeds.
"This one feels better," Williams sophomore outside hitter Kate Anderson said. "We beat two teams that we've lost to, but we're a different team, and we showed that from how we've played. I think we totally came together as a team and overcame some great competition."
Williams came out strong in the first set with a 25-18 victory. The Lord Jeffs were up late in the set, but the Ephs went on a nine-point run on the strength of sophomore Nicole Ballon-Landa, who earned 17 kills on the day to go along with two aces.
"Ballon-Landa was a middle blocker, but she's been changing positions," Williams coach Fran Vandermeer said. "She battles in every point."
Williams erased a five-point deficit in the second to tie the set at 16-16, but the Lord Jeffs came away with a 25-20 win. One of Amherst's senior quad-captains, setter Sara Heller, recorded 36 assists and 20 digs. But Amherst could not maintain the momentum after the second set, and it was all Williams from that point on.
In her eighth and final year as coach, Vandermeer made all the right moves en route to her sixth career title. Junior Melissa Pun started the match as the team's libero, but after Williams lost the second set, freshman Aly McKinnon pulled on the libero jersey and Pun moved to outside hitter.
"We thought we needed some more offense in our front row," Vandermeer said. "Sometimes switches work, and this time Melissa gave us a lift in the front, and our freshman played great in the back."
Williams rallied to leads of 14-8 and 17-10, and Amherst's two early timeouts did little to hold off the Ephs' onslaught that earned them the third set by a score of 25-12. The rout appeared well underway as play moved into the fourth set, with Williams going up by five points early.
This time, the Lord Jeffs battled back, cutting the score to 22-20, but a crucial missed serve and outstanding defense from the Ephs proved to be the difference. Vandermeer credited the victory and the team's turnaround from a 4-6 start to the season to finish 25-12 overall to her team's defense.
The Ephs' attack was led by Anderson and Ballon-Landa. Anderson clinched the 25-21 final-set victory with her 17th kill of the match. Junior Whitney Hitchcock also contributed to the win, tying a NESCAC record with 15 blocks as well as recording five kills.
The tournament was characterized by upsets once the top four seeds had advanced to the semifinals from Friday's quarters. Tufts, who had beaten Williams twice previously this season, fell in a thrilling five-set match on Saturday.
Following the host Jumbos' elimination, the only teams remaining were those in the unofficial "Little Three" conference. Wesleyan, who defeated the Lord Jeffs twice this year, including once last week, dropped a four-set match to Amherst. Cardinal senior co-captain Lisa Drennan, who remains favored in the running for her second NESCAC Player of the Year award, put up 21 kills and 21 digs but found herself relatively contained during the match.
"We blocked the lights out of Drennan," Amherst coach Sue Everden said. "We were effective doing that, and [sophomore] Rachel Yorke in the back was phenomenal. Of course I'm biased, but she's the best libero in the NESCAC, if not in New England. When the ball is hit to her, we get good touches. Williams was more effective keeping the ball away from her."
Yorke tallied 29 digs in the finals and had 27 and 28 in the first two rounds of the tournament. Amherst was paced in kills by freshman Christy Meier with 11.
"They were just better today," Everden said. "They developed a nice rhythm offensively. We were just a half-step off."
The winner of the NESCAC Championship earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Regional Tournament, which will also be hosted at Tufts starting Thursday. Although Amherst made the finals, it remains doubtful that they will beat out Tufts, ranked first in New England, for an at-large bid.
The tournament field will be announced this morning.
