It’s euphoric, it’s historic, it’s the 2017 Hamilton volleyball season. With a win over Middlebury on Friday, Oct. 27, the Continentals captured the best NESCAC record in program history. Hamilton rolls into this weekend’s NESCAC playoffs on a tear, winning their last five conference matches. Optimism is abundant for the volleyball team, and expectations heading into the postseason are at an all time high.
Following a trip to Amherst, Mass. for the Volleyball Hall of Fame Induction Tournament, the Continentals were ready to return to the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House for a match against NESCAC rival, Middlebury, on Friday night, before hosting Morrisville State and St. Lawrence in a tri-match on Saturday. Although they had already clinched a spot in the NESCAC playoffs, this weekend’s matches presented an opportunity to hone team cohesion and prepare for the season’s biggest test.
After Hamilton jumped out to a quick one-set lead, the Panthers stormed back by winning the next two sets (25–22, 25–21) to force the Continentals into a must-win scenario in the fourth set. With their
backs against the wall, the Continentals dominated the Panthers in the fourth set, easily cruising to a 25–12 set win after an electric seven-point run to start the set. In the fifth and final set, Hamilton rattled off six straight points, and held on to grab the victory from Middlebury’s grasp. Dorothy Poucher ’21 led the way for the Continentals with 16 kills in the match, a season-high for the talented middle blocker, while Giuliana Rankin ’20 followed closely with 13 kills of her own. Kendall Searcey ’20 had a dominant game with a career-high seven service aces, while Kyndal Burdin ’18 tied a career-high 55 assists.
The following day, Hamilton played in a double-header against the Morrisville State Mustangs and the St. Lawrence Saints. The Mustangs carried a 20–5 record into Saturday’s match, including a five-set victory over the Continentals back on Sept. 23 in a tri-match at Wells College in Aurora, New York. This weekend, the Continentals were able to get their revenge. Hamilton was able to jump out to an early lead, taking the opening set 25–21. Morrisville State battled back in a tightly contested 25–23 second set to level the match. The Continentals fought to a narrow 25–22 set win in the third set to re-take the lead, then sealed the victory with a dominant 25–15 fourth set. Margaret O’Brien ’18 was a brick wall on the defensive end, tallying six blocks in the match, while Christine Zizzi ’18 led the way with 18 digs. Searcey and Poucher impressed again, delivering three service aces each to topple the Mustangs.
Mere hours later in the final regular season contest, the Continentals fell to St. Lawrence 3–1. Hamilton seized the lead early, winning the first set 25–18. However, the Saints would not go down without a fight, winning the next three sets (25–22, 25–23, 25–19) to secure an away win. Burdin had a standout performance in the loss, tallying a double-double with 17 digs and 27 assists. Rankin was the primary offensive weapon for Hamilton with 11 kills, while O’Brien was a defensive stalwart with eight blocks. St. Lawrence had lost to Morrisville State 3–1 earlier in the day, meaning each team finished the day with one win and one loss.
Burdin was selected as the NESCAC Volleyball Player of the Week for her performances against this weekend’s three strong opponents. The team captain averaged 9.46 assists, 2.38 digs, 0.38 blocks, and 0.31 aces per set this weekend, leading a strong team effort throughout the homestand. Burdin currently sits at 2150 assists in her four-year Hamilton career, just shy of the program record of 2180 set by Sarah Tschampel ’99.
With a victory over Middlebury in the final conference match of the season, Hamilton finished the season 7–3 in NESCAC play, the best conference record since the team joined the NESCAC. The Continentals have not played in the NESCAC postseason tournament since 2014, and have never advanced past the quarterfinals in four appearances. Hamilton will be the number four seed in the NESCAC playoffs, the highest ever for the program.
The Continentals had an incredible 2017 regular campaign under first year head coach Kristin Baker, who provides an enormous sense of optimism for the program going forward. After eight years as an assistant coach at Colgate, Baker made the trek from Hamilton, New York to Hamilton College, taking over the reigns and leading her new squad to its most successful NESCAC regular season campaign in program history. Although Baker will lose five players to graduation next fall, she has already molded her returning players into perfect pieces for her system, and has instilled in them excellent values of teamwork, communication, and leadership.
The Continentals will travel to Medford, Mass. on Friday, Nov. 3 for the NESCAC quarterfinals. Unlike other NESCAC sports, the volleyball playoffs take place all on one weekend at one location (the site of the number one tournament seed). All four quarterfinals games will be played Friday night, with the semi-finals falling on Saturday, Nov. 4, and the NESCAC Championship will be played on Sunday, Nov. 5.
Hamilton will play the number five seed, the Amherst Mammoths, in their opening postseason match on Friday, Nov. 3 at 8:00p.m. The Mammoths are a staple in NESCAC play-off competition, with 2017 marking Amherst’s 19th straight appearance in the NESCAC quarterfinals. The two teams met in the regular season on Oct. 13, where Hamilton captured a narrow 3–2 victory at home. Both teams are on fire headed to the play-offs: the Continentals won their last five NESCAC matches in the regular season, and the Mammoths finished the year on a 5–1 tear. The match will surely be tightly-contested, requiring an exceptional all-around team performance from the Continentals to capture Hamilton’s elusive first NESCAC playoff win and advance in the postseason in one of the toughest conferences in NCAA Division III athletics.
