Hartford, Conn. – The Trinity College Bantams came back from two 2-1 deficits to record a 2-0 record in a tri-match this afternoon against the Roger Williams Hawks and the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) rival Wesleyan University Cardinals. With the two 3-2 victories, Trinity is now 9-5 overall and 3-3 in the NESCAC. Roger Williams, which swept the Cardinals, 3-0 in the middle match, is now 13-9, while the Cardinals fall to 4-11 overall and 0-7 in the league having lost five times in a row.
Against Wesleyan, Trinity came back from a 2-1 deficit to take the fourth set, 25-18, and the fifth set, 15-9. The Bantams opened up leads of 7-2 and 15-4 in the opening set en route to a 25-9 rout, but the Cardinals fought back and took the second set, 28-26. Trinity scored three straight points, including two on kills by senior OH Danielle Isaman (West Hartford, Conn.), to turn a 24-22 deficit into a 25-24 lead, but Cardinal junior OH Kate Centofanti (Glastonbury, Conn.) tied it at 25-25 with a kill and moments later gave Wesleyan a 27-26 lead on another kill. Wesleyan senior co-captain Jeanne McPhee (San Francisco, Calif.) ended the second set with an ace.
After Wesleyan posted an impressive 25-14 triumph in the third set, Trinity rallied to lead wire-to-wire in the fourth, as rookies Hunter Drews (Clifton Park, N.Y.) and Kate Giddens (Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif.) scored the 24th Bantam point on a block and classmate Katie Stueber (Darien, Conn.) blasted a kill to clinch the set. In the fifth set, Trinity scored five in a row to take a 6-1 lead and led, 14-4, before Wesleyan rattled off five points in a row. Isaman ended the threat with the match-winning kill, however.
Giddens finished with a match-high 17 kills with just three errors for a .378 hitting percentage and added two aces, two blocks, and 13 digs in the Wesleyan match. Trinity junior co-captain OH Hannah Brickley (Melrose, Mass.) added 13 kills and 16 digs, while Isaman had 12 kills with only two errors and 14 digs, junior S Amy Hackett (Wallingford, Conn.) notched 31 assists and eight digs, and Stueber recorded team-highs of 22 digs and three solo blocks. Junior OH Kim Farris (Atlanta, Ga.) had 13 kills and one error for a .316 hitting percentage and three blocks, while freshman S Brenna Tharnstrom (Newton, Mass.) registered 30 assists, and Centofanti finished with 11 kills, three aces, 16 digs, and a pair of blocks for the Cardinals against Trinity.
Junior Krystie Luczynski (Kensington, Conn.) paced Roger Williams against Wesleyan with nine kills, while senior Emily Lebowitz (Coventry, Conn.) had 24 assists and eight digs, and senior L Kelsee Loche (Millis, Mass.) contributed match highs of four aces and 20 digs. Farris and Centofanti each made six kills against the Hawks, while Farris also managed three aces, Tharnstrom registered 15 assists and freshman L Sophia Davila (Encino, Calif.) added 19 digs and a pair of service aces.
In the final match of the day, Trinity came back from a 2-1 deficit again to defeat Roger Williams, 3-2. The Bantams opened a 5-0 advantage in the fourth set on their way to a 25-20 victory and pulled away for a 15-10 triumph in the fifth set. The Hawks had rebounded from a 25-12 loss in set one to take the next two, 25-13, and, 25-23. Giddens had 18 kills and 11 digs, while Brickley and Isaman added 12 kills apiece. Junior S Amy Hackett (Wallingford, Conn.) and first-year S Gina Buzzelli (Cheshire, Conn.) each notched 22 assists, and Stueber recorded 19 digs, two aces, and two blocks. Loche led both defenses with 39 digs, while Luczynski totaled 17 kills for Roger Williams.
