Theoretically, every win in sports counts equally, with each victory equal to one tally in the “W” column. In reality, though, some victories taste just a little bit sweeter than others. Those against an archrival, at their house, in front of stands filled to capacity by fans rooting against you and holding signs referencing cows, certainly fall into that category. Not all athletic events involve bovine paraphernalia, but last Tuesday’s NESCAC match-up, between Amherst and Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. did.
Needless to say, the Firedogs were not lacking in motivation. “What more could you want?” asked sophomore middle hitter Jackie Berkley. “It’s a game against your archrival. If that doesn’t get you pumped up, there’s something wrong with you.”
If that is the case, then the Ephs need to get checked out, because they weren’t nearly as motivated as Amherst last Tuesday. The Firedogs, as Berkley aptly put it, “rocked” the Ephs all night, winning the contest decisively, 3-1. Amherst’s domination was apparent early in the match. The Firedogs won the first set convincingly, 25-16, surprising everyone in the gym, including—just a little—the winners themselves.
“After the first set,” said Berkley, “we kind of sat back and said, ‘Whoa. This is how we wanted to play all season. Let’s do that again.’” Though Williams was able to squeak off a win in the third set, the game was never in jeopardy for Amherst, who won easily in four sets. “It was by far the best we’ve played all season,” said Berkley. “After the game, we told each other that we wanted to keep that rolling into the weekend.”
The weekend started off with the only thing that could have topped playing Williams Tuesday—playing Williams again on Friday. Though the game didn’t count in NESCAC standings, rivalries tend to transcend conferences and leagues, and the match would have been just as intense if it had been played in an empty barn with no statistical significance whatsoever. Williams got off to a hot start, and it seemed as though Amherst’s magic had run out when the Firedogs lost the first set, 25-13. But the loss proved to be just a hiccup in the purple and black’s roar of dominance over the Ephs, as Amherst went on to sweep the next three games convincingly. It was the first time Amherst had beaten Williams back-to-back in eight years. The mere thought of the match brought an irrepressible smile to Berkley’s face: “Yeah, that one really felt good.”
Continuing what was the most competitive stretch in Amherst’s season, the Firedogs followed up the second Williams win with a game against the NESCAC-leader and region’s top team, Tufts University. The Jumbos had already beaten the Firedogs once in LeFrak Gymnasium earlier this season, so it went without saying that Amherst was hungry for revenge. “We just wanted to take how we played against Williams and do that to Tufts,” said Berkley.
And the team did just that—sort of. Though Amherst played very good volleyball, they lost to Tufts in five games, with the Firedogs taking Tufts into extra points in the fifth set. “I know everyone is going to see that we lost and assume we played badly,” said Berkley. “But we actually played really well—we just made some mistakes that we couldn’t afford to make.” After the match, which sophomore Laura Hyman called “the most emotionally fatiguing match I’ve ever played in,” a weary Amherst squad faced off against Wellesley College. Despite putting up a good effort, Amherst ended up losing its second consecutive game in five sets.
In all, though, the weekend was positive for the purple and black. Besides beating their archrivals (again) and playing exceptionally well, neither of Amherst’s losses counted in the NESCAC standings, so the Firedogs still sit at 6-1, a game and a half behind top-ranked Tufts. They will get a chance to shrink the Jumbos’ lead when they take on Trinity Wednesday night in LeFrak.