The Firedogs entered the weekend with energy and enthusiasm that carried over to their play in a slate of home matches, including their home opener against NESCAC rival Bowdoin.

“Bowdoin is a big rival for us and we were all really fired up to compete against them,” Nicole Carter ’16 said of the match.
Amherst got off to a fast start against the Polar Bears and held the lead during much of the first set, but they couldn’t hold on to get the win in what turned out to be a pivotal set, losing 28-26.

Carter, however, pulled a lot of positives from the team’s performance.

“The first set was by far the best we’ve ever played in terms of energy and cohesiveness as a team,” Carter said.

Although the Firedogs weren’t able to maintain the pace of play for the remainder of the match and ended up losing in straight sets (28-26, 25-17, 25-20), Amherst fought hard the whole match and was always within striking distance.

Head Coach Sue Everden was proud of the Firedogs, but believes that some of the team’s youth started to show after the first set loss.

“It seemed tough for them to put together a consistent set for the next two games,” Coach Everden said.

Amherst couldn’t afford to let their loss to Bowdoin damper their weekend, and they did not, as they responded well by winning their two matches Saturday against Bates and Endicott.

Key to the Firedogs was refocusing after their loss.

“After Friday night’s game against Bowdoin, we came in on Saturday with an even stronger desire to win and take care of business,” Carter said.

The Firedogs jumped on Bates early, and the Bobcats were never able to settle into the match. Amherst used this momentum to lead them to victory in straight sets for their first NESCAC win of the season. In addition to a strong offensive attack led by Carter, and first-years, Maggie Danner and Nicole Gould, the Firedogs played excellent defense. Although tallying just 3 blocks on the match, Amherst limited the Bobcats to a .011 hitting percentage.

After winning the match Amherst turned their attention to Endicott College and were relentless against the Gulls. Amherst kept up the defensive pressure, allowing a slightly better hitting percentage of .021 but tallying more blocks against the Gulls. The Firedogs played efficient offense in the match behind the play of junior captain Lauren Antion and Carter who paced play with 33 assists.

“We played tough defense, served very well and mixed up the offense to keep the other team guessing,” Everden said.

The Firedogs enter this week’s matchup at 8-4 and 1-1 in the NESCAC against a very talented Williams College squad that is 11-1 on the season after sweeping their NESCAC opening matches over the weekend.

Amherst looks to continue to build off of their early season success in their match against Williams on Thursday night.

“We have worked very hard and after beating Bates on Saturday, I think our team’s energy will remain high going into our game against Williams this Thursday and carry over into the remaining weekends of NESCAC play,” Carter said.

The Firedogs return home Friday, Oct. 4 against the Conn. College Camels at 8 p.m. in LeFrak Gymnasium.