The Amherst volleyball team had a very successful weekend after sweeping both Conn. College and Tufts in a pair of NESCAC matches.

“This was a huge weekend for the team in that we needed to win these two matches to put ourselves at the top of the NESCAC standings,” said Sammy Newby ’16.

Entering the weekend the Firedogs were 1-2 and in seventh place, but emerged from the weekend 3-2 and tied for fourth place in hot pursuit of NESCAC leader Williams.

Amherst started the weekend on the right foot with a sweep of Conn. College. The Firedogs continued their stingy defense, limiting the Camels to a .045 hitting percentage for the match.

Amherst had 14 blocks, led by junior captain Lauren Antion ’15 with six. First-year Jackie Buechler also contributed three blocks to the team effort.

“I think overall our blocking and serve receive were what we did best, and it is always rewarding to see what we practice every week translate so well into game time situations,” Newby said.

The Amherst offense was paced by the trio of first-year Maggie Danner, who led the team with 12 kills, and Antion and Newby, who each recorded eight kills. Setter Nicole Carter ’16 continued her strong play with 31 assists.

The offense was firing on all cylinders in the first set, hitting .419 before cooling off the rest of the match. However, the defense maintained the momentum and the Jeffs were able to sweep the Camels 25-14, 25-20 and 25-18.

“We set the pace right off the bat and kept it the whole weekend, which is what ultimately put us on top,” Newby said.

The momentum from the first match carried into their match against Tufts the next day. The Jumbos came into the weekend tied for first place in the NESCAC and looking to stay perfect in league play. After dropping a straight set loss to Williams, Tufts looked to rebound against Amherst.

However, the Firedogs refused to let the Jumbos rebound Saturday.

“Most importantly we played with a sense of urgency and even though we lost the second game in the Tufts match, we never gave up and fought for every point,” Newby said.

The Firedogs continued their tough defense with 14 blocks on the match. Amherst held Tufts to .154 hitting percentage on the afternoon and stifled the Jumbos attack for much of the match.

After winning the first set 25-23, the Firedogs dropped the second 15-25. However, Amherst wouldn’t be stopped and won the next two games 25-18 and 25-19 respectively.

Four Firedogs notched double digit kills on the match, led by Danner with 16 kills. Nicole Gould ’17 continued her strong campaign with 14 kills. Carter notched 50 assists on the match to drive the Amherst offense. Katie Warshaw ’16 continued her impressive defensive play with 26 digs on the match and moved into third place in the NESCAC in digs per set.
After three weeks of NESCAC play, the Firedogs are 10-7 overall and 3-2 in the NESCAC.

“Based on the past couple of weeks I am extremely proud and excited to see where the rest of the season goes because I think we will only continue to get better,” Newby said.

Amherst will look to continue their level of play with a non-conference match against a strong Westfield State squad Wednesday at 7 p.m. in LeFrak Gymnasium. League play will resume Friday night with a match at second place Middlebury and then a match at last place Hamilton on Saturday.