The Firedogs heard this week that two of their key players were given NESCAC First Team plaudits for their play during the regular season: junior outside hitter Jaclyn DeMais and senior co-captain middle blocker Kristin Quinn. With the news of the individual achievements of the Firedogs, the squad headed to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to partake in the national competition.
The Firedogs entered the tournament as the third-ranked team in the New England region. But they focused on not taking any team for granted, especially their first-round matchup against the fifth-ranked team in New England.
The first regional round for Amherst pitted them against Emmanual College. Emmanuel, hailing from Boston, Mass., was an easy victory for the Firedogs, but certainly helped Amherst focus for the next round. During the contest, DeMais led the attack for her team, tallying 12 kills and 21 digs on the night while Quinn and junior outside hitter Whitney Kouvaris added 10 kills of their own.
The Firedogs' defense was superb all match long-thanks to the blocking of Quinn and sophomore middle hitter Claire Holton-Basaldua, and the back row work of defensive specialist first-year Bethany Belisle and senior co-captain Laura Golden. En route to their easy three-game win, Quinn and Holton-Basaldua tacked on three blocks while Belisle added an impressive 17 digs. Sophomore setter Sarah Heller assisted on 38 points and added three blocks to the Amherst effort. The final tally for the games was 30-10, 30-9 and 30-17.
Although advancing to the Round of 32 was a great achievement in itself, the Firedogs now had to face MIT; a team that had already beat the Amherst squad once this season. But Amherst has consistently shown the ability to play successfully against a team that they had faced before and lost to, such as Williams, Wesleyan University and Trinity College. Nevertheless, MIT boasted a number two ranking in the region and sat as the favorite in the matchup.
In front of the MIT faithful, the Firedogs came out especially strong. They took control early in the first game, leading 10-6 and relying on the dominant play of DeMais. After MIT closed the gap, the teams traded points until the tie was broken at 16 points with the Engineers claiming four out of the next five points to seal the first game win. The second game started in a similar fashion with the Firedogs and Engineers fighting for every point. Amherst took an early 8-6 lead but MIT took the lead and never looked back, winning 30-22.
Down two games to zero, Amherst needed to concentrate on one point at a time in order to chip away at the MIT lead and get itself back into the contest. Luckily, the Firedogs did just that-leading 8-6 in the beginning and finishing the job 30-25. They began the fourth game looking to even the match and force a deciding game five. The game was close and Amherst looked as if they might be able to pull off the victory, but with the game knotted at 23, MIT captured several key points and was able to escape with a 30-27 deciding-game win.
DeMais led the way for the Firedogs, posting 26 kills, 21 digs and two solo blocks. Following closely was Kouvaris who tallied 15 kills and 25 digs while Heller added 47 assists to the effort as well.
Despite losing to MIT in the NCAAs, Amherst has a lot of which to be proud. The team recorded an overall record of 28-5, captured its third-ever NESCAC crown and was the only team to represent the NESCAC in the NCAAs. Quinn and DeMais were named to the All-NESCAC First Team while the squad itself really came together and embodied the concept of teamwork. The coaches and captains did an excellent job of instilling the notion of one-point-at-a-time, while combining humor and hard work during practice and games.
Hopefully, Amherst will be able to continue its successful ways next year as it returns all but two seniors. With a new crop of first-years set to contribute next season, the Firedogs give the impression that they will soon reappear in the NCAA Tournament.