After dropping their first match of the season to a strong Springfield College squad, the Amherst women’s volleyball team (3-1) responded positively to win its next three matches.

Despite losing 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 17-25, 13-25) in their season opener against Springfield College, the Firedogs played well on the home turf of a national powerhouse in DIII women’s volleyball. The Mammoths began the tilt strongly, winning the first set 25-20. However, after dropping an exciting and evenly contested second set, which included six lead changes, the Firedogs could not stop the Pride’s powerful hitters and ultimately lost the third and fourth sets as well.

In the second match of the season, Amherst left their opening loss behind them and bested Western New England University 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 26-24) at the Smith College Invitational. The Firedogs’ strong showing against the Golden Bears marked the start of their three-game win streak to round out a strong first week of competition.

During tri-match action on Saturday at Emerson College’s Brown Plofker Gym, Amherst swept the competition, dominating Emerson and Colby College.

In the first match of the day, the Mammoths’ stringent defense held Emerson to under 20 points in three sets en route to a 3-1 (25-17, 25-13, 19-25, 25-14) victory.

Emily Kolsky ’20 led Amherst’s attack with 12 kills and two aces. Marialexa Natsis ’18 and Daria Kim-Percy ’21 each contributed nine kills to the Firedogs’ attack, while Pearl Accord ’21 added two aces. Charlotte Duran ’20 and Adelaide Shunk ’20, meanwhile, facilitated the offense with 32 and 15 assists, respectively.

Sophomore libero Hayes Honea shouldered much of the defensive load for Amherst, posting a match-high 22 digs.

In the second match of the day, the Firedogs showed no fatigue and cruised to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-21) victory over Colby.

Kolsky showed why coach Sue Everden felt comfortable starting the sophomore player in back-to-back games by sharing the team lead for kills (10) with Cameron Hendricks ’20 against Colby. Duran pitched in 36 assists, and Honea recorded 24 digs in the comprehensive win over Colby.

Overall, Amherst’s dominance over Emerson and Colby on Saturday was marked by both outstanding individual efforts and gritty teamwork.

“We really came together in the final match of the weekend,” senior captain Asha Walker said. “Colby had some powerful hitters, but our defense made some great plays and that allowed our offense to be a success.”

Next, the Firedogs turn their attention to yet another away match against Endicott College (2-5) on Wednesday, Sept. 13, before they finally return to Amherst for their home opener against Middlebury College (2-2) on Friday, Sept. 15.