Courtesy Williams Sports Information

Box Score

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Third-seeded Amherst (27-4, 7-3 in the NESCAC) defeated top-seeded Williams (25-7, 10-0) in four games on Sunday afternoon to win the 2006 NESCAC Volleyball Championship. After the Ephs won the first game 30-20, the third-seeded Jeffs rallied to win three straight games, 30-27, 30-27, 30-20. With the victory, Amherst earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

No. 3 seed Amherst edged No. 6 Trinity in the quarterfinals on Friday night and upset No. 2 seed Wesleyan in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon to advance to the final against No. 1 seed Williams. The Ephs and Jeffs split their two regular season matches.

Sophomore setter Sara Heller had 54 assists for the Jeffs, while senior co-captain Kristin Quinn provided 20 kills. First-year Bethany Belisle tallied a team-high 27 digs and junior Jaclyn DeMais was right behind her with 26 digs. Junior Whitney Kouvaris was also impressive, racking up 22 kills.

Though the Ephs came out strong, cruising to a 30-20 victory in the first game, Amherst regained the momentum with hard-fought 30-27 victory in the second game. Williams started out strong in the third game, leading 11-3, but once again Amherst fought back to win 30-27 and took a 2-1 lead in the match. The Jeffs ran away with the fourth game to win the championship.

Senior co-captains Alexis Knepp and Krista Suojanen led the Ephs, as Knepp recorded 63 assist and 17 digs and Suojanen came up with 4 kills, 9 digs and 1 service ace. First-year Alisha Cahlan (22 kills), first-year Chelsea Kubal (20 kills), and first-year Melissa Pun (16 digs) had solid performances for Williams.

2006 NESCAC VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Friday, November 3 at Williams
at No. 1 Williams 3, No. 8 Middlebury 1
vs. No. 2 Wesleyan 3, No. 7 Bowdoin 1
vs. No. 3 Amherst 3, No. 6 Trinity 0
No. 5 Connecticut College 3, vs. No. 4 Tufts 2

Semifinals - Saturday, November 4 at Williams
at No. 1 Williams 3, No. 5 Connecticut College 0
No. 3 Amherst 3, vs. No. 2 Wesleyan 2

Championship - Sunday, November 5 at Williams
No. 3 Amherst 3, at No. 1 Williams 1