Field hockey started their season off strong with two victories, the first coming in a convincing 3-1 win over Keene State. Krista Zsitvay ’14 scored twice, and the Lady Jeffs got strong performances across the board in a victory that wasn’t as close as the final score suggests.
Coming off one of the best years in school history, field hockey looks primed to continue their success this season with a strong group of returning players. The Lord Jeffs were three wins away from a national title last year, and they’ll try to improve on that mark while playing a challenging NESCAC schedule.
Led by a third-place finish from Keri Lambert ’13, the women’s cross-country team took fourth place at the NCAA New England Regionals held Saturday at Bowdoin, earning an at-large bid to the National Championships in the process.
On the men’s side, Andrew Erskine ’13 individually qualified for the Championships in finishing sixth, while the team had a strong eighth-place showing.
The cross country teams showed their depth over the weekend, with the women’s and men’s teams both finishing in the top 10 at the ECAC Championships on Saturday, without their respective top runners. The women took fifth, while the men ended up sixth.
The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is made up of 312 member schools, including 182 Div. III schools.
Forty women’s teams and 44 men’s teams participated in Saturday’s race at Williams, giving the Lord Jeffs plenty of competition.
Keri Lambert ’13 took an early lead in Saturday’s NESCAC Championship and finished second overall, helping propel the women to third place. On the men’s side, a balanced effort led to an eighth-place finish on the team’s home course.
After a loss to Tufts dropped the volleyball team to 1-3 in conference play, the Firedogs ripped off three straight wins en route to a 4-1 stretch that brought the team to 15-5 overall and .500 in the NESCAC. The Firedogs first reached .500 with impressive wins over Conn. College and Colby, and the team quickly bounced back from a loss to Bowdoin by shutting out Bates.
The volleyball team came back from a 2-1 deficit to finish the weekend on a high note Sunday, defeating Keene State 3-2 at Middlebury. In Saturday’s action, however, the Firedogs fell to a strong Middlebury team 3-0.
With Sunday’s win — their second over Keene this year — the team improved to 10-3 overall.
