HARTFORD, Conn. – The Connecticut College women's volleyball team dropped a 3-2 decision to Trinity College on Saturday afternoon in a NESCAC showdown at Oosting Gymnasium.
Trinity (12-5 overall, 5-3 NESCAC) lost two of the first three sets but rallied back, winning by set scores of 21-25, 25-16, 18-25, 26-24 and 15-11. Eva Lekovic led the way for the Bantams with a match-high 16 kills and five block assists.
Three Camels finished with double-digit kill totals.
Riley Lord (Exeter, N.H.) paced Conn with a double-double of 15 kills and 18 digs,
Rae Wartelle (Tacoma, Wash.) contributed 14 kills, a block and two block assists, and
Emma Wheeler (Meredith, N.H.) chipped in 11 kills, one block and a pair of block assists.
The Camels got off to a great start, using a 10-2 run to jump out to a 12-4 advantage in the opening set. Riley provided five of the team's 16 kills in the frame, and the visitors quickly earned a 1-0 edge in the match.
Trinity led from start to finish in the second set to even the match. In the third, the Camels led 13-10 before taking control with six straight points on the serve of
Natasha Shrivastava (San Diego, Calif.). Wartelle, Lord and Shrivastava all provided kills during the stretch, and Conn coasted to the finish to claim a 2-1 lead.
The Camels had a chance to close things out in the fourth but couldn't capitalize. The Bantams trailed 24-20 but responded with six straight points to force the match to a winner-take-all fifth set.
Conn jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the finale, but Trinity fired back with five straight points and never trailed again. The Bantams came up with three big blocks at the net and had six players combine for nine kills in the set.
Caroline Festersen (Omaha, Neb.) and
Katherine Randall (Chicago, Ill.) paced the Camels on the defensive end. Festersen supplied 21 digs while Randall had a team-high 25 digs in addition to nine kills.
Conn College (9-9 overall, 2-7 NESCAC) will next host a tri-match with WPI and Rhode Island College on Saturday, October 21 at 10:30 a.m.
