Volleyball Beats Trinity But Falls to Wesleyan
The volleyball team split their matches over Fall Break, defeating Trinity three sets to one before falling to Wesleyan. They are now 9-4 overall and 5-2 in NESCAC play.
Amherst volleyball looked to continue their five-game winning streak this past weekend, facing off against two NESCAC rivals in important conference games. While they got the job done on Friday, Oct. 7, against Trinity, the Mammoths were unable to find their groove on Saturday, ultimately falling to No. 12 Wesleyan.
The Firedogs started their weekend off on Friday by crushing the Bantams three sets to one. They secured the first set with a strong 12-point lead, setting them up for a blowout set. With kills from Charlotte Rasmussen ’26 and Caroline Tilton ’23, the Mammoths took control and never wavered, cruising to an easy 25-14 win. However, the Bantams battled back in the second set. After a challenging back-and-forth set, the Bantams just barely sealed the win, 26-24, tying the game at one set apiece.
Trinity took this momentum into the third — despite Amherst’s early 8-4 lead in the third set, the Bantams tied it up with a run of their own, never letting the Mammoths get comfortable. Throughout the set, the Mammoths and Bantams were always close on the scoreboard, keeping the enthralled audience on their toes. But the Mammoths eventually came out on top: Battling to the very end, Carly Cooper ’24 setup Ava O’Connor ’24 for a kill to end the set with a victory and take control of the contest. Now up 2-1, Mammoths took the game in the fourth set. After multiple lead changes early on, the Mammoths put together an impressive 10-point run to win 25-15 and seal the 3-1 victory.
The Mammoths were unable to repeat their success the next day, however, losing to the Wesleyan Cardinals in a 3-0 sweep. The Mammoths got a late start in the first set, going down 10-5 early, making it hard to close the gap and ultimately losing 25-13. However, despite the tough set one loss, Amherst fought hard in the second set and came back hungry to win. They went on a five-point run, with all five points served by Lani Uyeno ’23, to close the Cardinals’ second early-set lead to just two, 19-21. After a competitive and stressful back-and-forth set of points, Wesleyan scraped by to win by that same margin, 25-23. And while the Firedogs looked strong at the beginning of the last set, taking a 7-2 lead, kills from Wesleyan swung the momentum back toward the Cardinals, and the teams were again neck-and-neck. Despite another nail-biting set, the Cardinals closed the game on a 9-2 run to seal the win over their Little Three rivals 25-19.
The Mammoths will look to bounce back from the loss when they take on the Springfield College Pride on the road on Thursday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. Following that game is another big NESCAC contest against Tufts at LeFrak Gymnasium on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 2 p.m.
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