AMHERST, Mass. – First-year
Kaili Maurice led the Mammoths in scoring in both matches as the Amherst College volleyball team won a pair of non-conference matches against Gordon College and Rivier University on Saturday at LeFrak Gymnasium. The Mammoths battled to a five-set victory against Gordon (23-25, 25-20, 12-25, 25-19, 15-11) before defeating Rivier in four sets (25-16, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19).
The Mammoths improved to 6-3 on the season and are in action again on Friday (Sept. 30), hosting defending NESCAC champion Bowdoin at 7 p.m.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS vs GORDON:
* The first set was closely contested throughout as neither team led by more than four at any point in a set that featured six ties and five lead changes. The Fighting Scots made the final run, taking the last three points of the set for a 25-23 win. Senior Valerie Nilan and sophomore Annie Murphy each had four kills in the set for Gordon before graduate student Jordan Shaduk put away the set with the kill on set point.
* The second set was also tight early on but the Mammoths scored four straight points on junior
Katelyn Hamasaki's serve to turn a 1-3 deficit into a 5-3 lead and held the lead for the rest of the set. A stretch of six straight Amherst points on junior
Ava O'Connor's serve gave the Mammoths a 13-5 lead and Amherst took the second set, 25-20, as sophomore
Anaya Thomas and first-year
Charlotte Rasmussen each recorded five kills in the set.
* The Fighting Scots won the first six points of the third set and held on to win the most lopsided set of the match, 25-12. Sophomore Joey Keltner tallied three kills and three aces in the set for Gordon.
* The fourth set opened to a 7-7 tie before a run of six straight Amherst points on junior
Carly Cooper's serve with first-year
Alexandra Trofort accounting for the kills on three of those points. When Cooper's next serve came around, the Mammoths were on the cusp of victory and Cooper delivered back-to-back aces to close the set and give Amherst a 25-19 win to force a decisive fifth set. Trofort and Rasmussen each registered four kills in the set.
* After the Fighting Scots took the first two points of the fifth set, the Mammoths battled back and took their first lead on a Hamasaki ace that put Amherst up, 4-3. After a kill from Maurice gave the Mammoths the serve, Maurice served up three straight aces to give the Mammoths an 8-5 lead. Maurice then closed out the match with the kill on match point to give Amherst a 15-11 victory in the final set and a five-set win.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS vs RIVIER:
* The Mammoths jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set and never trailed. Four straight Amherst points, capped by an ace from senior
Sam Underwood, gave the Mammoths an 11-5 lead and a string of five straight points on Cooper's serve had the Mammoths up, 17-8. Trofort clinched the opening set with her third kill to give Amherst a 25-16 victory.
* The second set started similarly as the Mammoths took a 4-1 lead but the Raiders battled back and tied the set at 6-6 on an ace from senior Olivia Garand. With the set tied at 10-10, the Mammoths reeled off three straight points and held a 20-17 lead when the Raiders responded with three straight points to tie the set at 20-20. Rivier capitalized on several Amherst errors to pull ahead and graduate student Sydney Racevicius and sophomore Lily Sills tallied kills on the final two points of the match to give the Raiders the set by a 25-22 margin.
* The Mammoths flipped the score in the third set. Facing an early 5-4 deficit, Amherst scored four straight points, capped by a pair of aces from Maurice. The Mammoths held the lead for the remainder of the set, with sophomore
Lizzie Papalia serving up a pair of aces as part of a run of five straight Amherst points that gave the Mammoths a 19-12 lead. The Mammoths held of the Raiders for the rest of the set and Maurice came up with the final kill for a 25-22 win in the third.
* Amherst never trailed in the fourth set, which started tight and was tied at 9-9 before the Mammoths took advantage of several Rivier errors on Papalia's serve to take a 12-9 lead. A string of five straight Amherst points on Underwood's serve put the Mammoths up 18-11 and Rasmussen delivered the final kill of the match to give Amherst a 25-19 win in the set and a four-set victory in the match.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Maurice contributed 11 kills, 3 aces and 3 blocks against Gordon, then tallied 13 kills, 14 digs, 3 aces and 3 blocks against Rivier, all career highs.
* O'Connor led the Mammoths and set career highs with 13 kills and 17 digs against Gordon.
* Cooper set 26 assists against Gordon and led Amherst with 30 assists and 21 digs against Rivier.
