Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Eighth-seeded Bates College volleyball fell to top-seeded Williams College 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-10) in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Championship in Chandler Gymnasium on Friday evening.
The Ephs (23-4) won in straight sets for the 18th time this season and advanced to play the winner of fourth-seeded Tufts and fifth-seeded Connecticut College in the semifinal round tomorrow at 1 p.m.
The Bobcats (11-18) made their first appearance in the conference tournament since 2008 while the Ephs – who went 10-0 in NESCAC play during the regular season – are hosting the championship for the first time since 2006.
For Williams, Tori Jasuta led all players with 13 kills on .393 hitting while Emily Doll tallied 12 kills and a .320 hitting percentage. The duo accounted for 25 of the team's 39 kills. Ryan Farley posted a match-high 29 assists, and Jasuta made a match-best 11 digs.
For Bates, first-year Chandler McGrath (Seal Beach, Calif.) landed a team-best six kills while classmate Aubyn Link (Houston, Texas) and sophomore Brynn Wendel (Boxford, Mass.) each added four kills.
Defensively, sophomore libero Laryssa Schepel (Flemington, N.J.) recorded a team-high 10 digs, and at the setter spot, junior co-captain Tess Walther (Santa Monica, Calif.) dished out 13 assists to go with seven digs.
The Bobcats matched the Ephs point for point in set one before falling 25-22. Bates held a lead in the set as late as 16-15 before Williams used a 4-0 run to take a 19-16 edge. The visitors tied the set at 20-20 before the hosts took five of the last seven points.
Even play continued early in the second set as Williams held a slight 11-10 lead. The Ephs then used a 5-0 spurt to take a 16-10 edge as part of a 10-2 run which pushed their advantage to 21-12 on the way to the 25-16 set win. The hosts jumped out to leads of 11-1 and 19-2 to capture the third set, 25-10.
