Amherst easily defeated host Middlebury, 3-0 (30-27, 30-25, 30-24), on Friday night as first-year outside hitter Jaclyn DeMais led the offense with 15 kills. Senior outside hitter and co-captain Nikki Davidson added 10 kills, with Kristin Quinn '07 contributing nine kills of her own. Senior setter and co-captain Annie Hoeksma and junior middle hitter Sara Bruggeman each rounded out the offense with five kills. Hoeksma's 30 assists engineered the offense, while Junior libero Kate Raddock's 21 digs led the defense. DeMais added her own 14 digs and Davidson rounded out the defense with 10 digs. Bruggeman put up the most blocks for the defense with four.
The Firedogs faced their toughest opponent the next morning in the Williams College Ephs, the top team in the NESCAC. In addition to not having been able to beat the Ephs in the past three years, the Firedogs have not even been able to win a single game against them. This time, however, the Firedogs were able to push the Ephs to five games, winning the second and third game but faltering in the fourth and fifth games to lose the match 3-2 (25-30, 30-24, 30-24, 17-30, 9-15). DeMais again led the offense with 20 kills. Quinn posted an additional 13 kills, while Davidson put up 10 and Hoeksma added eight. Hoeksma's 40 assists were also impressive as were her 10 digs. Raddock led the defense with 26 digs, while DeMais added 20. Davidson put up 14, and Quinn added nine digs and and three blocks.
"We played very well and just lost some intensity in the fourth game that ended up costing us the match," said Davidson. The Firedogs hope to face the Ephs again during NESCACs on their way to the NCAA Tournament.
Later that day, Amherst easily defeated Hamilton in three quick games (30-15, 30-12, 30-17). Bruggeman led the offense with 12 kills and Davidson posted 10. Quinn posted eight additional kills, while junior outside hitter Natalie Soud posted five kills. Hoeksma guided the offense with 22 assists. Raddock led the defense with 16 digs, with DeMais posting 11. Davidson was close behind with eight and sophomore defensive specialist Mikela Yarawamai rounded out the defensive effort with five.
The results of this past weekend of play left the Firedogs with a record of 8-2 in the NESCAC, garnering them the number three seed in the NESCAC Championships, which will begin on Friday in Williamstown.
The Firedogs will face sixth-seeded Bates College at 8 p.m. on Friday. Quarterfinals and finals will take place on Saturday and Sunday.
Amherst smashed Bates in a 3-0 (30-20, 30-12, 30-19) win on Oct. 9. If the Jeffs get past the Bobcats, they will face the winner of Friday night's match between seventh-seeded Bowdoin College and second-seeded Tufts University.
Amherst beat Bowdoin earlier this season but lost to Tufts in a 3-2 heartbreaker on Oct. 17. If top seeds triumph on Friday, Amherst will look to avenge its earlier loss to Tufts at 3:30 p.m. the next day.
"Because of our weekend overall, I think we are in a great position going into NESCACS. We will have a lot of confidence going in and if we stay focused I think we have a good chance of finally beating Williams," said Davidson.