Amherst started out the weekend by falling 3-2 to Middlebury College on Friday night but rebounded on Saturday to defeat Brandeis University and Trinity College, finishing second in the Amherst Volleyball Classic Tournament held at LeFrak Gymnasium.
"Our match Friday night was a big disappointment," said tri-captain middle/outside hitter Sara Bruggeman '06. "We just decided too late in the game that we wanted to win and didn't play like we could have."
The Panthers won the first game, 30-26, to gain the advantage. The Firedogs bounced back in the second game, 30-26, only to let the Panthers regain the advantage in the third game, 30-27. The 'Dogs rallied for the fourth game, winning it 30-16, to force a decisive fifth game. The final game was an all-out battle with Middlebury ultimately coming out on top, 17-15.
The 'Dogs admit that their performance was a bit "off" during the match. "On Friday evening we were struggling a bit; everyone was playing really tensely," said tri-captain outside hitter Natalie Soud '06. "We worked very hard in the last three games and just barely lost to Middlebury."
However, the Firedogs were able to point out their problem areas in Friday's match. "One major area in which our game suffered was serving," said Soud. "We unfortunately gave Middlebury 15 points that way."
Head Coach Sue Everden commented on the team's serving troubles. "We missed quite a few serves, and it came back to haunt us," she said.
Amherst's valiant comeback efforts in the last three games of the match were led by junior middle/outside hitter Kristin Quinn's team-high 18 kills. Rookie setter Sara Heller racked up 43 assists and eight blocks during the match. On the defensive end, defensive specialist Julie Berkley '08 and outside hitter Jaclyn DeMais '08 led the team with 21 and 18 digs, respectively.
Though Friday was undoubtedly a disappointment for Amherst, the team had expected there to be some bumps along the way early in the season as several rookie members have joined the team in key roles. "We had some problems, but we're a young team and with each game we get better," said Bruggeman.
The Firedogs are confident that they can use Friday's defeat to become a better team as the season progresses. "I think we learned a lot from that loss, and we'll all be remembering it as motivation to work hard this season," added Soud.
On Saturday, the Firedogs proved that they would not let Friday's frustrating performance keep them down for long by handily defeating the Brandeis Judges and the Trinity Bantams in three straight games each. "On Saturday, we completely turned it around," said Soud. "We played relaxed but aggressive volleyball, and our pace was great."
In addition to having the previous night's loss still fresh on their minds, the 'Dogs also had to play without defensive star Berkley due to a neck injury she sustained during the match on Friday. Fortunately, Berkley is expected to return to the court by next week, but her absence made it even more miraculous that the team was able to recover for Saturday. "The team rebounded well and played tremendous volleyball on Saturday," said Everden.
The Firedogs were blazing the minute they stepped onto the court Saturday morning, and they didn't stop burning the competition all day. To start the day off, the 'Dogs unmercifully handed the Bantams a 3-0 defeat, 30-28, 30-24, 30-21. The intensity did not diminish in the afternoon as Amherst beat Brandeis with unwavering confidence in a similar manner, 30-15, 30-19, 30-22.
Amherst's powerful showing on Saturday was due to the fine performances of many players. DeMais notched 24 kills and 16 digs, followed by sophomore outside hitter Whitney Kouvaris's 20 kills and 21 digs. In addition, Heller chipped in 60 asssists throughout the day. Leading the defense and stepping up with Berkley absent were senior tri-captain outside hitter and defensive specialist Kate Raddock and junior defensive specialist Laura Golden, who contributed 30 and 17 digs, respectively, on Saturday.
At the end of the weekend, Middlebury took the crown at the Amherst Volleyball Classic, despite a five-game loss to Trinity on Saturday. This defeat is especially noteworthy because of the Firedogs' close bout with the Panthers and subsequent thrashing of the Bantams. Although Amherst and Middlebury both finished with 2-1 tournament records, Middlebury prevailed overall due to its head-to-head win over Amherst on Friday.
After a weekend full of lessons for the Firedogs, the team looks ahead to the rest of their schedule with renewed strength and optimism. With this experience under their belts, the Firedogs are realizing they still have a lot of potential for the rest of the season.
"The more court time we can get as a group will have a huge impact on how well we do in the future. We're looking forward to seeing Middlebury and even Colby College again down the road to show them the kind of ball we can play, because we didn't represent ourselves very well the first time around," said Bruggeman. "We really pulled things together on Saturday, and I hope we can keep up that level of play for every game."
Amherst suffered a 3-2 loss at Colby on Sept. 17, and after Friday's game, both the Mules and the Panthers are on the 'Dogs' revenge list.
The Firedogs will host non-conference foe Smith College at LeFrak Gymnasium at 7 p.m. tonight. The Pioneers will travel down Route 9 with a 9-2 record and an experienced squad. "Smith is an excellent, excellent team, and so Wednesday should be a real challenge," said Everden. "We are going to have to play well to win against Smith's veteran squad." After emerging from last weekend a wiser and more experienced team, the 'Dogs certainly seem willing and able to face that challenge.