Colby Volleyball spent its Friday night playing two games, the first versus Wheaton College and the second versus NESCAC rival Bowdoin.
Many Colby fans were in attendance to watch the Mules take on both teams.
The Mules had not played Wheaton since 2017, when they lost in three sets. This season, however, boasts the strongest team in years, and the Mules yearned for revenge.
The Wheaton game was a five set thriller, with the teams evenly matched for much of it.
After winning the first set, Colby dropped the next two, increasing the pressure. The Mules stepped up to the plate and handily beat the Wheaton Lyons in the fourth set 25–10, making zero errors during the set.
The momentum appeared to be on the Mules’ side, but the Lyons consistently fought in the deciding set and produced some amazing rallies between both teams.
In the final points of the fifth, the score came down to 15–15 and both teams had an opportunity to win. Colby was serving for the lead, but made a serving error that gave Wheaton the advantage. They capitalized and blocked a Colby attempt at a kill to win the final set 17–15 and the match 3–2.
Middle hitter Hannah Wylie `24 led the Mules versus the Lyons with twelve kills and hit .267 for the match in addition to an ace and a pair of solo blocks. Outside hitter Emma Davis `26 registered nine kills and a dig. Outside hitter Sam Schultz `23 put away eight kills to go with fourteen digs and an ace, and setter Sydney Sick `26 directed the offense with twenty-four assists and added thirteen digs and three aces. Libero Bella Schumacher `25 scooped up thirty digs and served a pair of aces.
After the loss, the Mules shifted their attention to Bowdoin, who they played after a short break.
Coming into the second match, Colby faced a familiar Bowdoin team who they beat earlier this year in four sets. They looked to avenge their loss versus Wheaton and sweep the Polar Bears in regular season play.
Against Bowdoin, the Mules rallied back after losing set one to grab the win in the next three straight sets. Colby finished the game with a team total of thirteen aces compared to Bowdoin’s six and fifty-two kills compared to Bowdoin’s thirty-four.
Wyllie and Davis led in kills again at twelve and eleven each while LJ Grant `26 contributed eight. Sick finished the night adding thirty-two more assists as Schumacher finished with 22 more digs.
The first two sets of play were extremely competitive and could have gone either way. Bowdoin’s strong communication gave them the advantage in the first set and for the majority of the second set until some errors gave Colby the lead.
The energy from Colby’s bench and fans fueled the players as the Mules ran off with the lead in the final two sets. The Mules dominated the fourth, winning 25–12.
Colby has much to celebrate after a hard fought evening, barely losing a long five setter and then rallying to beat Bowdoin in four.
As for the remainder of the regular season, Colby Volleyball currently sits fifth in the NESCAC and will wrap up the regular season next weekend in Waterville with two key conference matchups between Williams and Amherst, who both sit just above Colby in the standings at fourth and third place, respectively.
~ Julian Cangieter-Hernandez `25
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