Photo by Amanda Boyer
By Hailli Woo
Staff Writer
The Shorewomen hosted the Ursinus Bears on Saturday for their final game of the season at the Cain Athletic Center. The Shorewomen defeated the Bears 3-0 (25-10, 25-12, 25-14). This has been the Washington College Volleyball team’s best season in 36 years, with a record of 19-9.
WC won the first six points of the opening set, leading them to control the rest of the set with a 15 point win. In the opening run, freshman hitter, Rachel Baker, served up three aces.
The set started with an amazing 8-0 lead for the Shorewomen that quickly turned into a 12-7 lead. Finally, WC increased to a 20-7 lead on a kill by sophomore Jess Daunoras.
In the middle set, WC led 14-9 before going on an 11-3 streak to finish the set. The set ended with a kill by right-side hitter Emily Hoyle.
In the last set, Washington College leaped out with a 14-4 lead on a service ace by freshman defensive specialist, Audrey Utchen.
Utchen said, “We were all planning on having a great game just so that our seniors would have a good match to end their careers with.”
The Bears would come back with an 8-4 stretch to close the gap in the lead to 18-12.
The Shorewomen came right back out at the end of the set to finish with a 7-3 run to clinch the match.
After a great season, Utchen spoke of her team’s success. There were only positive words coming from the freshman.
“The biggest challenge was overcoming all the injuries that come about, and adapting to the changes in a positive way. We never let adversity get in our way. We always tried to make the best out of every game, and successfully worked together to play for one another.”
Although the season was fantastic, Utchen shared some of the struggles the team had to overcome as the Shorewomen traveled through their season.
Utchen said, “One thing I would change would be that we did strength and conditioning throughout the season, because I felt myself getting weaker as the season went on. We are implementing this next season however.”
WC hit .387 in the match, set a record of 12 kills from sophomore outside hitter Kristin Lee, and had 13.5 points put up in the event to all lead players.
Senior setter, Lauren White, had a match-best of 21 assists and three aces. White finished her collegiate career with 2,708 helpers, which is second best in college history.
Rachel Baker and Lauren White tied with three aces each. Baker had 10 digs to tie the match- high, while Daunoras had four blocks to lead all players.
Emily Hoyle finished her last collegiate match with seven digs and five kills.
Saturday was the final match that Emily Hoyle and Lauren White would compete in for college, but in their final outing they led their team to the best season since 1977.
On a roster of only 10 women, the two departing seniors will be sorely missed. But their legacy will carry on, and the Shorewomen will build off the great success they shared this season.