Statistics
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Highlights
BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Elle Faris and Sofia Castiglioni combined for 20 kills, 0 errors, and a .541 hitting percentage over the final three frames to lead Bates College back for a 3-2 women's volleyball result (22-25, 23-25, 28-26, 25-20, 15-9) versus the University of New England on Tuesday night (Sep. 15) at Coach Beaudry's Court inside the Harold Alfond Forum.
The last four meetings between the programs have now all gone the distance, with four different paths on the way there. The Bobcats narrowly cling to a perfect start to the year (5-0) with the reverse sweep, and ended a three-match skid in the series. The Nor'easters were set back for the first time in five outings (4-1).
"I thought we played hard tonight, against our toughest opponent so far. It was a really competitive match, and I loved our energy," shared UNE head coach Ian Blanchard. "We will learn from this one, and I'm confident we can intensify our focus on improvement in practice to shift some of our weaknesses into strengths."
Trying to stay alive in the 3rd set, Bates held leads of five points (17-12, 20-15) in the latter stages, only to see UNE respond with an 8-1 run and swing the advantage in its favor (23-21). The Bobcats fought off three match points, and then Faris gave the visitors an edge twice. A kill by UNE's
Kendall Gallaugher leveled it at 26-all, but the hosts could not shut the door. Faris had eight of her team-high in kills during the session.
"We had a couple great opportunities to put the match away in the 3rd set and came up just short. I think the team understands how close we were to winning, so let that be motivation to work harder for next time."
It was 13-11 Nor'easters in the 4th when Bates turned in nine of the next 10, making it all but a matter of moments before there was a need for a deciding set. In the 5th, after UNE tallied four in-a-row to knot the score at 7-all, the Bobcats put down six kills and one service ace to steal the victory, including two points from Castiglioni. Bates attacked at a .500 rate in the last period.
"I have to give Bates credit, as they went after us from the service line and it paid off for them. You can tell they're a veteran bunch, and I think they did a good job exploiting some of our relative inexperience in spots down the stretch."
The visitors were paced by the 15 kills and .310 hitting clip from Faris, who also collected 13 digs. Castiglioni had 12 winners and no miscues (.500), while Malina Young added 12 kills and 12 digs. Lauren Croom and Alice Fischer each had double-doubles of assists and digs, going for 31 and 16, and 23 and 13, respectively. Fischer also dropped in four aces.
Tess Madden topped the hosts with 15 kills, to go with 12 digs and a hand in five blocks.
Hannah Nowell posted 13 kills and a .345 hitting average, 15 digs, and four aces.
Abby Simao tacked on eight kills, and
Josie Eliot racked up seven blocks in addition to seven kills.
Hayley Shult supplied 25 assists and a dozen digs, and 19 more assists came from
Olivia Hollander. Headlining all defenders was
Lylah Shumway, totaling 23 digs to go with three aces.
The first two sets featured 20 ties and 12 lead-changes. The Nor'easters had four blocks and four aces in the 1st, while Nowell secured four kills on five swings -- including the final point. It was down to the wire again in the 2nd, when an Eliot kill, Nowell ace, and stuff by Eliot and Madden, pulled UNE out of a 23-22 deficit to seize a two-set edge.
The Nor'easters will stay at home to face Wellesley College on Saturday (4 p.m.).
