NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College women's volleyball team earned its first NESCAC victory of the season on Friday night, coming from behind to best Bates College by a 3-2 final at Luce Field House.
The Camels trailed 2-1 but rallied back to take the final two sets, winning the match by final scores of 27-29, 25-16, 22-25, 25-16 and 15-11.
Mila Chan (San Francisco, Calif.) hit .283 and led all players with 19 kills and five service aces.
In a tight opening set that featured 10 ties and three lead changes, Bates fought off five set points before securing the 1-0 lead on a kill by Ami Evans. Conn bounced back quickly, vaulting out to a 12-4 advantage in the second set and leading by as many as 10 en route to tying up the match.
The third set was another squeaker, as the Bobcats erased a four-point deficit with a 6-1 run to inch in front at 22-21. After the Camels evened the score on a big block by Chan and
Evie Lockwood Mullaney (Needham, Mass.), Bates closed out the set with three straight points that included a kill by Sofia Castiglioni and an ace by Kate Hansen.
Chan provided the firepower for the Camels in the fourth with six kills. Conn trailed 13-12 at one point but won 13 of the final 16 points to even the match.
Katherine Randall (Chicago, Ill.) and
Rae Wartelle (Tacoma, Wash.) supplied three kills apiece in the frame to help send the match to a deciding fifth set.
Conn jumped on top early in the final stanza and rode Randall's serve to a 10-2 advantage. The Bobcats didn't roll over, eventually cutting the deficit to two at 13-11. However, a kill by
Amanda Kreidler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) brought about match point for the Camels, and
Taylor Merrifield (Honolulu, Hawaii) wrapped things up with her fourth ace of the night.
Wartelle finished with 12 digs and four blocks in the match while Randall added nine kills and 12 digs.
Josie Kelly (Solana Beach, Calif.) paced Conn's offense with 43 assists and 11 digs, and Merrifield tacked on a match-high 28 digs. Lockwood Mullaney also had a solid night with eight kills and five blocks.
Evans led Bates (8-7, 2-4 NESCAC) with 14 kills on 36 swings.
Conn (10-5 overall, 1-4 NESCAC) will next host Tufts University on Saturday, October 12 at 2:00 p.m.
