Say what you will about the volleyball team, but it certainly know how to make things dramatic.
The Firedogs saved their best for last this weekend, storming back from a 2-0 deficit to stun Coast Guard, in five sets (13-25, 16-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-8) and finish the 2011 Amherst Classic on a high note. A day earlier, the ladies jumped ahead early en route to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-22) shutout of Brandeis.
Playing in just their second home game of the season against Brandeis, Amherst treated the crowd to a relatively comfortable victory.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced on Friday that the start of training camps would be postponed indefinitely and cancelled 43 preseason games scheduled for October due to the on-going struggles to reach a labor agreement between the Players’ Association and the owners.
The Jeffs split this week’s matches, taking one from Springfield on Wednesday and dropping one to Hamilton on Saturday.
Junior Keri Lambert won her first collegiate meet on Saturday at Williams’ Purple Valley Classic, leading the women to a strong fourth-place finish, while the men’s team placed sixth, both out of fields of 16 teams.
Lambert “dominated a field of 202 runners, many of whom compete for some of the top Div. III programs in the country,” said coach John Adamson. She finished the 6k is 22:00 minutes — 26 seconds ahead of the closest runner. Averaging 5:54 per mile, Lambert was the only woman to post an average mile time under six minutes.
Women
The women’s golf team sustained its early season success at the Mount Holyoke Invitational this past weekend, securing a third-place result in the team competition with a two-day total of 654.
The team, which began the season ranked 12th nationally among Div. III schools, continued its solid swinging this weekend, trailing only Williams (634) and Middlebury (644). Starting the weekend strong, the Jeffs actually held second place at the end of Day 1.
The men’s tennis team opened their fall season at the USTA/ITA New England Regional Tournament last weekend. Hosted by Williams, Regionals is the major tournament of the fall season — a unique experience for players, in that they compete only individually rather than as a team. Adding to the intrigue of the weekend, the tournament represented the first competitive play for the Jeffs since capturing their first-ever NCAA Championship last season.
In a rematch of last season’s NCAA championship match, the women’s tennis team began their 2011 fall campaign by hosting Williams last Saturday evening.
For both teams, the contest was their first taste of action since the Ephs edged out the Jeffs 5-4 to win the NCAA title in May.
Much has changed, however, for the Jeffs since then, as they lost six seniors this offseason, and come into the year looking for younger players to fill that void.
