Around the Herd: Sept. 8 to Sept. 14

Women’s Volleyball

Last weekend, women’s volleyball attended the UMass Boston Tournament where they swept their matches against the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), SUNY Plattsburgh, and UMass Boston. The action kicked off on Friday, with a 3-0 Mammoth win against RIT.

Despite an early 6-point deficit, kills from Abby Nichols ’28, Gabrielle Hines ’29, and Sofia Camilo ’28 halved the RIT lead to 14-11. Then, with the score even at 18-18, the Mammoths surged to take control of the set. The first set was won at 25-20 with a service ace by Stella Jacey ’29.

The second set had a similar beginning, with the Tigers leading until the halfway mark. The Mammoths rallied steadily, but were still trailing at 22-16 before a kill from Chloe Mensah ’30 and serves from Tiana Richardson ’27 helped Amherst collect nine straight points en route to a 25-22 final set score. 

Unlike the first two, set three began with early Amherst control, with the Mammoths securing a 10-4 advantage. With help from Liliana Brandt ’30 and Richardson ’27, the Mammoth team remained dominant through the rest of the match and ended with an impressive 25-12 final set victory over the RIT Tigers, winning the match in straight sets.

The strong weekend brings the Mammoth’s record to 4-2. NESCAC play begins this week, with Amherst hosting Middlebury on Friday and Hamilton on Saturday. 

Women’s Soccer

On Saturday, the women’s soccer team faced Bowdoin in a rigorous game, ultimately falling 3-2 to the Polar Bears. 

Bowdoin took control early in the game, scoring off a corner kick five minutes in, and maintaining its 1-0 advantage into halftime. The Mammoths took the second half by storm, though, holding possession and ultimately equalizing in the 75th minute with a goal from Ani Populoh ’29. However, Bowdoin then quickly scored two goals in response to gain a 3-1 lead by the 83rd minute. Refusing to back down, Amherst ramped the pressure back up, netting another goal in the 88th minute when powerhouse Jessica Lomo ’27 directed a pass to Emma Darling ’29, who sprinted into range of the goal and nailed a one-touch shot straight past the goalkeeper to bring the score to 3-2. 

After a frenzied final 15 minutes during which four of the match’s five goals were scored, the Mammoths’ impressive efforts were not quite enough for a triumphant comeback, and the game ended in a tough 3-2 loss. The Mammoths are now 1-2 overall and 0-2 in NESCAC play. 

For their next game, the Mammoths will host Springfield College on Wednesday, Sept. 16. 

Men’s Soccer

While men’s soccer dominated in an exciting game against Bowdoin on Saturday, they could not quite break through, and the final score was a 1-1 tie. 

In the first half, the Mammoths produced eight shots on goal while completely icing out the Polar Bears, who had zero shots. Just before halftime, with only 31 seconds left in the period, Mohammed Nuhu ’28 found Wilder Judelson ’29 in front of the net to head it in and give Amherst the advantage going into the second half.

​Bowdoin countered in the 69th minute of the second half, with their only shot on goal reaching the back of the net, drawing the match. Though the Mammoths continued to create opportunities throughout the last 20 minutes, Bowdoin held them off, and the game ended with a final score of 1-1. Amherst took a total of thirteen shots, placing five on goal. Nuhu led with four attempts, and Finn Hoefer ’29 ended with three shots.

​The Mammoths will play next on Tuesday, Sept. 15, against Westfield State University before hosting NESCAC foe Middlebury on Saturday, Sept. 19.

Field Hockey

The women’s field hockey team had an exciting week, gaining a win against Springfield College, 2-0, on Wednesday, but falling to Bowdoin, 0-3, on Saturday.

​On Wednesday, the No. 18 Mammoths played a home game against Springfield. From the start, Amherst played aggressively, completely dominating the shot count. With six minutes until halftime, Devon Watson ’29 drew a penalty corner. Watson then passed the ball to Caroline Busler ’28, who assisted Genevieve Caruso ’27 for her first goal of the season. The Mammoths continued with their momentum, following up their goal with multiple shots that the Springfield goalie blocked. Then, in the last quarter of the game, Emma Zhang ’29 assisted Caruso, who tallied her second point on the board. Caruso led the team in shots for the game, with Bella Kim ’29 also having four. The Mammoths worked together defensively to prevent Springfield from firing a single shot.

​On Saturday, the Mammoths battled but lost to the Polar Bears, 0-3. The game started slowly, with multiple fouls called on both teams. In the last 12 seconds of the first quarter, Amherst freshman Ella Kang ’29 had a close shot, sending it just wide of the goal. With zero goals throughout the second quarter, both teams performed well defensively, with Mammoth goalie Grace Puchalski ’27 blocking an impressive shot from Bowdoin midfielder Hannah Balmelli. The Polar Bears found their opening early in the third quarter, though, putting themselves on the board. Despite a series of shots from the Mammoths in quarter four, they were all blocked, while Bowdoin scored twice more.

​The game concluded in field hockey’s first loss of the season, dropping their record to 2-1. The Mammoths will play again this Tuesday, traveling to face Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Head of the Herd

First-year middle hitter Raegen Lentz ’30 shined this past weekend for the Mammoths’ volleyball team, ending the weekend with a whopping 32 total kills over the three matches they played. Lentz noted: “Joining the team my first year, I didn’t know what my role would look like, so it’s been super exciting to have the opportunity to contribute on the court early in the season. My teammates have helped me feel more confident on the court and I’ve already learned so much from them already. My goals for the rest of the season are to keep pushing myself, become a consistent player, and help the team succeed.” She smashed her single-game kill record by putting up 17 against UMass Boston, earning her both a grand total of 59 kills so far on the season and this week’s Head of the Heard accolade.