The 'Dogs started off the weekend with their final two contests of the season at LeFrak Gymnasium on Friday evening. The women took the first match by forfeit to Wheaton College, who were late due to bus problems.
Later in the evening, Amherst easily disposed of Brandeis College (30-11, 30-24, 30-19). Sophomore outside hitter Kristin Quinn led the offense, posting 11 kills and serving two aces. First-year outside hitter Jaclyn DeMais' eight kills and co-captain senior outside hitter Nikki Davidson's seven kills rounded out a strong offensive effort. Co-captain senior setter Annie Hoeksma put in her typical dominating output with 22 assists for the match, along with four kills and four digs.
The defense was led by first-year libero Julie Berkley, who posted 10 digs. Davidson and DeMais demonstrated their defensive abilities with eight and five digs, respectively. Sophomore defensive setter Laura Golden's five digs added defensive support. Quinn's team-high eight blocks helped shut down the Judges.
Amherst traveled to nearby Smith College on Saturday for the remainder of tournament play. Williams College has been a thorn in Amherst's side for the past few seasons, and Saturday's match was no exception. The 'Dogs fought hard, but the Ephs completed a three-game sweep nonetheless (30-25, 30-23, 30-24).
Quinn again led the offense with 11 kills. Junior outside hitter Kate Raddock followed close behind with ten kills, and DeMais and Davidson rounded out the offense with seven and six kills, respectively. Hoeksma set the stage for the offense with 29 assists, adding five kills. Junior middle hitter Sara Bruggeman chimed in with four kills as well.
Berkley led the defense with 13 digs, with Raddock adding 12 more, and DeMais adding 11. Davidson completed the defense with seven digs of her own.
Losing to Williams always hurts, and Saturday's match was no exception. The Ephs are undefeated in league play (8-0) and have a record of 25-3 overall. Amherst gets another crack at Williams this weekend in NESCAC competition, and the 'Dogs are eager for the opportunity to put the first mark in the Ephs' loss column.
"This week's practices are definitely going to be focused on what we need to do in order to beat Williams this upcoming Saturday," said Hoeksma. "It was great to get to play them before our NESCAC match because now a lot of our nervousness of playing them for the first time this season is gone. We know what to expect and are going to prepare for them as best we can this week."
After the disappointing loss, the 'Dogs conceded another tough match later that day to Springfield (26-30, 30-22, 30-27, 30-26). Amherst showed resilience with a first-game win coming on the heels of the Williams loss, but the team was unable to pull out the next three games and lost another close match.
Davidson and Quinn, who posted 16 kills apiece, led the offense. DeMais and Hoeksma rounded out the offense with nine and eight kills, respectively.
Hoeksma also contributed an impressive 39 assists, in addition to 10 digs on defense to attest to her extraordinary all-around play. The defense worked very well together, with four players putting up 10 or more digs. Berkley led with 14, but DeMais and Raddock were close behind with 12 and 10 respectively. Davidson added seven more digs, and Quinn stepped in with eight blocks.
Quinn and Hoeksma earned All-Tournament honors for their performances over the course of the weekend. Quinn's 38 kills, 18 blocks, three service aces and .589 hitting percentage also garnered a her NESCAC Player of the Week award for the second time in three weeks. Hoeksma averaged 30 assists per match.
The tough games this past week will surely help to prepare the 'Dogs for the last regular-season games of the year, which are all the more important as they will face a trio of NESCAC rivals.
Amherst faces Middlebury College on Friday night, and will face Williams and Hamilton Colleges on Sunday in matches that will not only determine the winner of the league, but also who will host the NESCAC Tournament. Amherst is currently fourth in the league with a record of 6-1 in conference play. Williams tops the league and Middlebury is just ahead of Amherst with a 7-1 record. Hamilton has yet to win a match.
Though the Williams match looms large in the minds of the Firedogs, the Middlebury match will be just as important, if not more important, to Amherst's postseason seeding.