Volleyball Looks to Finish Season with Winning Record

RYAN MURPHY ’17
SPORTS EDITOR
 
The women’s volleyball team participated in the Hall of Fame Invitational at Amherst College last weekend, improving their record to 10-11 on the season. The Bantams went 2-1 on the weekend, defeating Emmanuel College and SUNY Canton, and losing to UMass-Boston.
On Friday Oct. 21, the Bantams took on the Saints of Emmanuel College in the first day of the Hall of Fame Invitational. Trinity dominated the contest, taking the match in straight sets, led by Rachel Hughes ’17, Claudia Varner ’18, Wyllie Boughton ’20, and Colette Scheffers ’20 with eight kills apiece. Boughton and Rachel Underwood ’18 also notched 13 digs apiece, while Shelby Deck ’17 served four aces, and Randi Whitham ’17 assisted on 27 points.
Saturday’s competition kicked off with a matchup against the No. 3 team in New England, UMass-Boston. The Bantams started the match off strong, capturing the first set 25-22 from the heavily favored Beacons. Led by Whitham, who had 26 assists and 23 digs on the match, the Bantams played a tough second set, narrowly losing 22-25.  UMass seized the momentum after the second set and cruised to third and fourth set victories, 25-14 and 25-16.
Despite the loss, Underwood and Scheffers both had strong performances, with 17 and 13 digs respectively. Carter Stancil ’20 also added 11 kills, leading the team in that category.
Trinity had to bounce back quickly and take on the Kangaroos of SUNY Canton in their second match of the day. The match was nearly an exact mirror image of the earlier matchup with UMass. The Bantams dropped the first set 22-25 but bounced back to win the second 25-22.
The Bantams used the energy from their competitive second set victory to take the next two sets decisively, 25-18 and 25-14. Whitham tallied an astounding 44 assists as well as 13 digs and two service aces, while Scheffers had 18 kills and 10 digs of her own.
Two tough NESCAC road matches against Amherst and Williams await the Bantams on Friday Oct. 29 and Saturday Oct. 30, who will look to finish the season with a winning record. The Purple and White are currently ranked third in the NESCAC and the Ephs stand in fifth place.