NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College women's volleyball team capped an unbeaten week with a 3-1 victory over Hamilton College on Saturday afternoon in a NESCAC battle at Luce Field House.
Conn dropped the opening set but bounced back with authority, taking the match by set scores of 20-25, 25-19, 25-18 and 25-17.
Mila Chan (San Francisco, Calif.) led three Camels with double-digit kills with a match-high 15 and added nine digs.
Katherine Randall (Chicago, Ill.) tacked on a season-high 14 kills and
Rae Wartelle (Tacoma, Wash.) chipped in 11 as Conn moved into sixth place in the conference standings.
Hamilton seized control early in the opening set and never trailed. The Continentals jumped out to a 9-1 advantage and held off a late charge by the Camels to nab the 1-0 advantage.
The second set featured seven ties and four lead changes, but Conn pulled ahead for good at 10-9 and eventually built a 21-13 cushion. Hamilton responded with five straight points to cut into the deficit, but the Camels captured four of the final five points to even the match.
Chan had six kills to lead the charge for the Camels in the third. A 6-0 run gave Conn some breathing room at 17-10, and later a kill by Chan gave the hosts their biggest lead at 20-11. The Continentals fought back to within 22-18, but a kill by
Amanda Kreidler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), an ace by
Caroline Festersen (Omaha, Neb.) and a block by
Josie Kelly (Solana Beach, Calif.) wrapped things up for the hosts.
A 6-2 start in the final set put Conn on top for good. Randall supplied five kills in the frame while
Taylor Merrifield (Honolulu, Hawaii) added three service aces. Merrifield also finished with a match-high 22 digs, and Kelly handed out 47 assists.
Ayzlinn Trefren paced Hamilton (4-11, 1-7 NESCAC) with 12 kills.
Prior to the match the Camels honored Randall and Kreidler in a special senior day ceremony. Both were four-year letterwinners who were playing in the final home games of their careers.
Conn (13-6 overall, 3-5 NESCAC) will next play a tri-match at WPI on Saturday, October 26. The Camels will take on WPI at 11:00 a.m. and Fitchburg State at 1:00 p.m.
