Volleyball Captures Two Thrilling Senior Day Victories

IAN MACDONALD ’20
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Lady Bantams came out of the week with a winning record. After a tough loss to Connecticut College, on Oct. 14, in straight sets, the volleyball team was able to bounce back with wins over a strong 17-6 Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a solid Rhode Island College team; both of these wins came deep in the fifth set.
In the first set, Connecticut College hopped on the team early securing a 5-1 lead which prompted an early timeout from Bantams Head Coach Jennifer Bowman. After the timeout, Trinity made up some ground, but the Camels kept the contest just enough out of reach and went on to win the first set 25-16. The Bantams got started early in the second set led by captain Randi Whitham ’17, who was on fire from behind the service line causing all kinds of trouble for the Camel’s defense. The Camels called a timeout in an attempt to get the Bantams out of rhythm. The timeout proved to be a beneficial one, Connecticut College was able to regroup and end the game on a 6-1 run, winning the second set 25-18. Once again in the third set the Bantams opened up strong but kept the game within reach for the Camels proved to be too much and went on to sweep the match. First year Colette Scheffers ’20 continued to keep her impressive opening season going by leading the Bantams with six kills, and her other first year partner Wyllie Boughton ’20 added five kills of her own. Whitham played a solid match with two service aces and team high 15 digs.
On Senior Day, Oct. 15, the Bantams were able to keep their energy high playing to two five-set matches. They finished on top in both, and both fifth sets were decided by a slim margin of just two points. Against the Engineers of WPI, the Bantams dropped a close first set but bounced back strong in the second set, erasing a deficit to tie the series. The third set went all the way into overtime with the Bantams ending up on top 27-25. In the fifth set, the Bantams were on their last leg and down 11-13, but they quickly got into a groove and ended the match on a 4-0 run to claim the victory. After the long match against WPI, the Bantams had a quick rest and then came back to take on Rhode Island College. Once again, they found themselves down after the first set, but were able to win the next two sets to gain the advantage in the match. In an electrifying fifth set, Trinity went on to win 16-14. On Senior Day, the seniors came up big; Shelby Deck ’17 had 30 digs combined in the two matches, Rachel Hughes ’17 had a dominant performance with nine kills, three aces, and three blocks, and Randi Whitham ’17 totaled 21 digs, 41 assists, three aces, and three blocks in the match against WPI. She also led the team with 33 digs against Rhode Island College.
Although these were the last two home games of the season, next week the team will attend the Hall of Fame Invitational. Finally, they will end with two conference games at Amherst and Williams. The Bantams record is currently 8-10 overall but with a strong last two weeks of games, they hope to end the season with a winning record.