November 15, 2008

Williams Defeats Wellesly to Win NCAA Women's Volleyball New England Title, 3-1

MEDFORD -- Williams College, the fourth seed in the NCAA Div. III Women's Volleyball New England Regional, advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals by winning the regional championship match, 3-1, over #3 seed Wellesley College on Saturday night at Tufts University's Cousens Gymnasium.

The Ephs were led by Tournament MVP Kate Anderson (Berlin, MA), who had 21 kills and four blocks (three solo) in the final. Eph sophomore Nicole Ballon-Landa (LaJolla, CA), named to the All-Tournament team, added 20 kills as Williams won with set scores of 27-25, 17-25, 25-23 and 25-21. Coach Fran Vandermeer's team earned a trip to the "Elite Eight" to be held November 20-22 at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Illinois.

Williams, which improved to 28-12, had eliminated #1 seed Springfield College in the regional semi-finals on Friday night. Wellesley (28-8) knocked out #2 seed and host Tufts in the semi-finals. Both teams came ready to play on Saturday and the result was an exciting regional championship match.

After close early play in the first set, Williams opened a 23-15 lead by scoring seven out of nine points during one stretch in the middle of the match. Wellesley rallied all the way back to tie the set at 24-24 on an ace by Emily Peters (Temescal Valley, CA). With the match tied at 25-25, two Wellesley errors gave the Ephs the win at 27-25. Sophomore setter Emily Avis (Palo Alto, CA) had 13 assists in the set for Williams.

The Blue responded well, scoring a 25-17 victory in the second set. They broke out of an 11-11 tie to open an 18-12 lead, with sophomore setter Victoria Peng (Diamond Bar, CA) contributing two service aces during the run. The Ephs closed to within four at 18-14, but Wellesley scored the next four points and finished off the set win. Peng had 17 assists, helping the Blue hit at .375 for the set.

In a great third set, Williams was up 7-1 early and Wellesley rallied to take a 12-11 lead. No more than two points separated the teams for the rest of the way with the Ephs taking a 25-23 win to go up 2-1. Kills by Anderson scored four of Williams' last five points. She had seven kills overall for the set.

Three Wellesley errors in the middle of the fourth set helped turn a 10-10 tie into a 14-10 Williams lead. The Ephs would maintain a narrow margin over the remainder of the set, getting within one point of the championship on a kill by Anderson that made it 24-19. Wellesley got the next two, but appropriately an Anderson kill clinched it for the Ephs.

Williams might wish the NCAA Quarterfinals were at Cousens. They won the NESCAC title in the gym last weekend and celebrated the regional championship there tonight. Avis finished the match with 45 assists. Four Ephs were in double figures for digs, with junior Melissa Pun (San Francisco, CA) leading the way with 14.

Wellesley's Alice Cummings (Tallahassee, FL) and Jessica Duff (Abingdon, England), both on the All-Tournament Team, joined sophomore Samantha Du (Houston, TX) in leading the Blue on Saturday night. Duff finished with 20 kills while Du had 17 and Cummings put down 13. Peng's 58 assists in four sets were the catalyst offensively, while Peters was remarkable defensively with 34 digs.