CLINTON, N.Y. – The Connecticut College volleyball team closed out the regular season with a 3-2 victory over Hamilton College on Saturday afternoon at Margaret Bundy Scott Field House.
Conn's victory—which came by set scores of 25-19, 15-25, 25-19, 24-26 and 15-9—secured a berth in the upcoming NESCAC Championship. The Camels have earned the seventh seed and will play at second-seeded Wesleyan University in a quarterfinal matchup on Saturday, November 7 at 3:00 p.m.
Rae Wartelle (Tacoma, Wash.) and
Keira Deeney (Norwell, Mass.) finished with 17 kills apiece while
Tilde Keatley (Pasadena, Calif.) added a double-double of 12 kills and 13 digs.
Aubrie Letourneau (Mattapoisett, Mass.) and
Lexi Rosenblatt (Austin, Texas) combined for 53 assists, and five Camels recorded double-digit digs led by 19 from
Taylor Merrifield (Honolulu, Hawaii).
A 6-1 run put the Camels on top 10-5 early in the opening set, but Hamilton eventually evened the score at 18-18. Conn responded by winning seven of the next eight points to take the set, a stretch that included three kills and a block by
Vibha Sheth (Austin, Texas).
After the Continentals rallied to take the second set by 10 points, Conn jumped out to another 10-5 advantage in the third. This time the Camels kept the hosts at bay as Wartelle supplied five kills and Deeney chipped in four en route to the 2-1 edge in the match.
In the fourth, Conn went up 23-21 following a sequence that featured a kill by Keatley, an ace by Merrifield and a block by Keatley and Wartelle. However, the Continentals clung to life behind a 5-1 spurt and extended the match into a fifth set.
The Camels reeled off eight straight points to go up 8-2 in the deciding frame. Conn led by as many as eight before Hamilton made one last push, trimming the deficit to four at 12-8. A kill by
Emilie Ferdinand (Stoneham, Mass.) put the visitors back on track, and Conn's final two points came via attack errors to wrap up the match.
Sheth and Ferdinand finished with eight kills apiece. In addition to her 31 assists, Letourneau also tacked on 12 digs.
The Camels finished the regular season with an overall record of 11-10 (4-6 NESCAC). Conn's four NESCAC wins are also the most since 2016.
