HARTFORD, Conn. - The Trinity College Bantams came back from daunting deficits in both the fourth and fifth sets to earn a 3-2 victory over the visiting Hamilton College Continentals in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) volleyball action this evening on Ogrodnik Court in Oosting Gymnasium. Trinity improves to 9-12 overall and 4-5 in the NESCAC, clinching a post-season bid for the first time since 2018. Hamilton drops to 8-10 overall and 3-6 in the league. The Bantams host Middlebury tomorrow in the last match of the season for both teams. Trinity, Middlebury, and Colby, which hosts Amherst tomorrow, are all tied for sixth in the conference at 4-5 with one game left to play each.
Trinity trailed, 16-9, in the fourth stanza down two sets to one and rallied to win that set, 25-23. The Bantams were again down late in the fifth set when Hamilton scored four points in a row to take a 13-9 lead, but again came roaring back to go ahead, 14-13, and eventually win the set, 18-16, and the match, 3-2. Trinity sophomore L Julia Torre (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) served up nine consecutive points to turn the Continentals' 16-9 lead into an 18-16 advantage for the Bantams in the fourth set. Junior Margaret McCarthy (San Diego, Calif.) had two kills during the 9-0 run. Hamilton ended the rally and the score stood at 20-18 in Trinity's favor, when Trinity sophomore DS Kaila Dowd (Kennesaw, Ga.) served up the set's final five points including an ace and consecutive kills to end it by junior co-captain Lola Craig (Los Angeles, Calif.) and senior co-captain
Molly Bernstein (Oakland, Calif.)
The teams continued to battle early in the clinching set and the score was 9-all when the Continentals pulled within two points of the victory at 13-9 with a 4-0 run. Bantam sophomore OH Ava Boloyan (American Canyon, Calif.) dominated the ensuing stretch with three kills on the next four Bantam points and classmate Eva Lekovic (San Marino, Calif.) closed the 5-0 rally with a kill to give Trinity a 14-13 advantage. Kate Carman kept the Continentals alive with a kill to tie the score at 14-14 and the teams traded points before Craig earned two of Trinity's final three points with kills and a Hamilton error ended the fifth set at 18-16.
Hamilton had won the first set, 25-18, going ahead, 4-3, on an ace by Melissa Morelli and leading the rest of the way. Trinity answered with a 25-23 victory in set two. The Bantams trailed late in that set as well, 19-15, but rookie S Caroline Howell (Houston, Texas) rattled off seven points in a row serving, including one on an ace and three on Lekovic kills. The Continentals closes from 24-20 to 24-23, but Lekovic made another kill for the 25th point. The fourth set was also close with Hamilton winning, 25-23, on a kill by Morelli for the 25th point.
Lekovic paced the Trinity offense with 19 kills and Boloyan had 13 kills. Howell notched 28 assists and both Howell and Dowd had three aces. Torre collected 19 digs, while Craig had 13 and Howell added 11 for the Bantam defense. Bernstein was stellar was six kills against no errors and nine blocks and Lekovic had six blocks. Trinity hit .218 as a squad in the match. Kate Carman led all hitters with 23 kills and Summer McClintic had 16 kills for Hamilton. Morelli recorded seven kills and 51 assists and Cece Nourie led all defenders with 25 digs.
"I am so happy for this team and so incredibly proud of the effort and resilience they put on display tonight," said Trinity Head Coach Jen Bowman. "It is hard to win in the NESCAC and Hamilton is a very strong team. What a fun battle!"
