The Firedogs began their season with a trio of wins at Saturday's Roger Williams Invitational Tournament, defending their title from 2006. The team defeated Rivier College, the University of New England and host Roger Williams University, the same three schools they swept past last year. Senior tri-captain Jaclyn DeMais was once again named MVP of the tournament. Fellow tri-captain Whitney Kouvaris '08 also garnered tournament honors by nabbing a spot on the All-tournament team. The NESCAC recognized DeMais' outstanding performance by naming her the NESCAC Player of the Week.

The Firedogs were happy to see that the tactics and techniques that they had been practicing in the weeks before the Invitational had paid off. "We worked a lot on the basics and getting back into the groove of things," said sophomore Bethany Belisle. "With so many new first-years we worked a lot on making sure that our offense was running smoothly before our first games."

The Firedogs lost only one game at the tournament, as they were edged out in the second game of their match against Rivier by a score of 26-30. Amherst took the first game 30-19 and the third and forth games 30-18 and 30-25, respectively. The Firedogs dominated their second opponent, UNE, more than doubling their foe's points with a combined game total of 90-38. In the final game of the tournament the Firedogs showed up Roger Williams, winning convincingly in three games, 30-22, 30-12, 30-18.

"We were successful because we were able to adjust to the opposing team," said DeMais. "The teams we faced in this tournament played a different style of volleyball than what we're used to, but we worked hard to keep the games at our pace."

DeMais registered a whopping 43 kills for the tournament, aided by setter Sara Heller '09 who dominated at her position with a total of 69 assists. Kouvaris also played a crucial role in each match, notching eight kills against both Rivier and Roger Williams.

The first-years got in on the action as defensive specialist Rachel Yorke '11 totaled 36 defensive digs for the tournament while fellow first-year Katherine Jordan gave starting setter Heller a break, producing 19 assists against UNE. "The first-years are great; they have a lot of potential and have definitely stepped up and filled the spots that we needed them to fill," said Belisle.

The Firedogs are confident in their performance, but ready to work hard at practice. "Our team dynamic [throughout the tournament] was really good," added Belisle. "No matter who was on the floor we were communicating with each other and making things work. We still need to work on the speed of our offense and other small things that will start coming together as we play with each other more."

The team realizes how much of their success is due to team spirit and high energy, as DeMais noted, "One really key element to our team is that we have fun when we're playing. Not only does that keep our energy up, but it tends to demoralize our opponents."

The tournament served as a great warmup for the Jeffs, as they easily dominated the competition. The starters got a chance to play together for the first time in the season, and the first-years were also able to get their feet wet in collegiate competition.

The Firedogs will have a short rest before their home opener. Next up for the Firedogs is their first home game against Keene State College at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday.