WORCESTER --- The WPI women's volleyball program split a tri-match after defeating host Clark in straight sets before falling in five sets to Connecticut College inside Clark's Kneller Athletic Center on Saturday.
After the split at Clark, the Engineers stand at 9-8 overall and 2-3 in NEWMAC play as the hosts 1-12 overall and 0-4 in NEWMAC competition. The Camels improve to 6-7 overall after finishing the day unblemished.
Game One – WPI 3, Clark 0
WPI and Clark exchanged kills from the start as
Bridget Spees (Saint Johns, FL),
Zeala VanDamme (San Diego, CA),
Olivia Hutchinson (Erie, PA),
Fiona Gillis (Manchester, NH),
Anastasia Kelnik (Fair Lawn, NJ) and
Julia Colantuoni (Amherst, NH) all contributed quickly with kills as the Engineers tallied 14 kills en route to hitting .310 for the set. The Crimson and Gray took advantage of a four-, eight- and three-point run to cruise to a 25-16 win in the opening set.
The Engineers then took advantage of a few errant attacks to jump to an early lead in the second set as Spees, VanDamme and Kelnik got back on the board with early kills in addition to a
Lauren Boycourt (San Diego, CA) ace for a 9-2 lead. The Engineers continued to chip away as Colantuoni joined the attack featuring an ace from
Victoria Escuer (Caracas, Venezuela) with a pair of Hutchinson kills to keep the hosts at bay at 15-8. WPI then put the set away as the Engineers strung together a three- and six-point run to take the second set, 25-12. WPI improved the efficiency to a .321 attack percentage with double-digit kills once again.
Set three played in favor of WPI with multiple Clark attack errors in conjunction with VanDamme and Gillis kills giving the Engineers an early cushion. The Hutchinson-Gillis duo continued to pace the offense as the Boynton Hillers runs of four- and five-points each featuring kills from five different Engineers to claim the 25-11 victory. Overall, WPI hit .500 in the final set including 18 kills compared to Clark's 8-of-32 (.038).
For the match, VanDamme had a match-high 12 kills and two blocks as she was accompanied by Spees (9) and Kelnik (7) which combined for 28 kills. Boycourt led the ace race with three joined by Spees and Escuer who added three more. Boycourt (20) and
Preslie Jerebker (Denver, CO) (15) registered 35 as Escuer led defensively with 16 digs.
Game Two – WPI 2, Conn College 3
WPI's offense stayed steady in the second tilt of the day as the Engineers surged to a 7-3 lead featuring four kills and early errors by the Camels which provoked a five-point run. Conn College crawled back with a
Zoe Watts (Chicago, IL) kills and three-straight aces from
Rae Wartelle (Tacoma, WA) which leveled the opening set at 9-9. Runs became limited as the scoring margin did not exceed two points until the Engineers registered a Gillis kill, Colantuoni ace and attack error to give WPI a 23-21 lead, which the Crimson and Gray finished off the first set with a Spees attack and Hutchinson ace for the 25-21 win.
The second set score continued to ricochet back-and-forth as Watts and
Grace Anderson (Pawling, NY) propelled the Camels' offense in addition to a WPI ball handling error to give Connecticut the 9-5 advantage. The Crimson and Gray rallied back as they rattled off a six-point run including kills from Spees, Kelnik and Gillis for the 13-10 lead. The Camels then took advantage of errant attacks from WPI and tacked on six kills which produced rallies of three runs to even the match at 1-1.
WPI responded with establishing a six-point lead at 13-7. The Camels responded with a four-point run with kills by
Vibha Sheth (Austin, TX), Watts and another Wartelle ace to close the gap at 17-16.
Kylie Welcher(Los Angeles, CA) and Spees tacked on kills in effort to keep the Engineers offense moving but the Camels pushed down on the pedal with a 5-1 run including kills from Anderson,
Riley Lord (Exeter, NH), Wartelle and a pair of
Dylan Kokkinos (Aurora, IL) aces for the 23-21 lead. The Camels held on for 25-23 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Crimson and Gray went on a tear running out to the largest lead of the match after limited attack errors to just six within the fourth set stacked with 13 kills. Gillis and
Amelia Lynch (Charlottesville, VA) teamed up to rally the Engineers for five straight points to a 12-7 lead. Gillis, Hutchinson, VanDamme and Kelnik recorded the next seven kills alongside three aces to take a commanding 25-14 win to force the match-deciding set.
Both squads exchanged three-point rallies early on and stayed neck-and-neck until 6-6 before the Camels put together a pair of four-point runs to hold a 13-8 lead over the Engineers. WPI's final kills by Spees and Hutchinson brought the match to 14-12 but a final error gave Conn College the match victory.
Spees shared a team-high in kills with 13 and match-high in aces with four. Gillis and Kelnik added to the team's 56 kills in the second match with 13 and 10 respectively. Defensively, VanDamme posted a match-high five blocks as Escuer bumped 32 digs accompanied by Boycourt (16) and Spees (12) that combined for 28. Boycourt shared the ball as she registered 31 assists in the match.
The Engineers enjoy a long break as WPI heads into A-Term finals and break and will return to action on Tuesday, October 14 at Babson in a match slated for 7pm. Clark and Conn College return to play for matches on Tuesday night at 7pm as the Cougars will head to Mount Holyoke and the Camels will host Saint Joseph (CT).
Box Score – WPI vs Clark
Box Score – WPI vs Conn College
