NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College women's volleyball team fell by a 3-1 final to Trinity College on Saturday afternoon in NESCAC action at Luce Field House.
The Bantams (7-10 overall, 3-5 NESCAC) bounced back from an opening-set loss to win by set scores of 23-25, 25-16, 25-21 and 25-16. Lola Craig (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished with a match-high 14 kills while Eva Lekovic (San Marino, Calif.) and Margaret McCarthy (San Diego, Calif.) added nine apiece.
Emma Wheeler (Meredith, N.H.) and
Katherine Randall (Chicago, Ill.) each supplied 11 kills to pace Conn (6-10 overall, 1-8 NESCAC).
Julia Dailey (Charlottesville, Va.) led all players with 18 digs to bolster the Camels on defense.
Conn captured the opening set behind six kills from Wheeler. The Camels led 20-14 when the Bantams ripped off five straight points to pull within one, rallying on the serve of Grace Sullivan (Fort Worth, Texas). However, late kills by
Annie Wibbelsman (Pacific Palisades, Calif.), Randall and Wheeler helped right the ship, and the hosts hung on to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second set, Trinity led from the first point to the last to even up the match. Craig set the tone with four kills in the stanza, and Kaila Dowd (Kennesaw, Ga.) added a pair of service aces.
Things heated up in a competitive third set that saw nine ties and three lead changes. A kill by Isabella Caffuzzi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) gave Trinity its biggest lead at 12-7, but Conn took six of the next seven points to knot the score at 13-13. The two sides then traded points until it was 19-19, at which point the Bantams took the lead for good on a kill by McCarthy. The visitors clinched the set by winning four of the final five points, with Caroline Howell (Houston, Texas) delivering a service ace on set point.
The Camels raced out to a 5-0 start in the fourth, but the Bantams quickly reeled them in and pulled ahead behind a 6-0 run. Trinity never trailed again as Craig and Lekovic combined for nine kills in the final set.
Conn College returns to action at Rhode Island College on Tuesday, October 18 at 7 p.m.
