Women's volleyball grabs tournament win at Colby College Invitational

The Plymouth State women's volleyball team opened up its season this past weekend and defeated Gordon College, Colby College and Husson College to win the Colby College Invitational Tournament in Waterville, Maine.

Plymouth, led by tournament MVP Eliza Badeau, defeated Gordon College on Friday in a tough five set match by scores of 15-25, 14-25, 25-20, 25-11, and 15-7. Plymouth then went on to defeat Colby on Saturday in three sets by scores of 26-24, 25-12, and 25-22.

PSU defeated Husson later in the day with similar ease by posting scores of 25-19, 25-14, and 25-10. The victory on Fri. over Gordon College was particularly impressive as PSU had to overcome an early 0-2 deficit in the match. PSU then ran off three sets in a row to capture their first win of the season. Junior Eliza Badeau led the Panthers with 22 kills in the match, while senior Wendy Dziedzic had nine kills and junior Carly Newton had eight kills. Seniors Regan Bowlen and Sarah Spears led the Panther defense with 20 and 18 digs, respectively. Junior setter Brianna Kleckner registered 39 assists and a team-high four service aces.

Plymouth head coach Moira Long was pleased with the resolve her team showed against Gordon College, "I was really happy with how the team responded this weekend. The first two sets against Gordon did not start well. We were playing a little timid, and quite honestly I was not sure who these players were on our side of the court. However, we came out strong in the 3rd set and really started to play PSU volleyball. We were passing the ball well and playing great defense, which enabled out offense to get on track. I was most impressed with how the team handled themselves, down 2 sets and storming back to take the next 3." Said Coach Long, "We need to  work on a little more consistency on defense, reading and reacting to opponents hitters.  Blocking is another aspect of the game I think we need to improve upon. Lastly I think we will continue to need to work on starting strong each match."

Plymouth's victory over Colby College was impressive as Colby posted a 3-1 record in the tournament with wins over Maine-Farmington, Maine Maritime Academy, and Swarthmore. Coach Long was pleased with the faster start against Colby than she had seen against Gordon, "Against Colby College we were able to start off quicker and really establish our offense. We passed the ball extremely well and Colby struggled to stop our middle attack. We served the ball tough and took Colby out of system, which is always our goal. I feel like overall the weekend went well. We are pretty deep in each position and everyone has the ability to contribute." Said Long. Jenny Lawrence won all-tournament honors for Colby over the weekend.

With these victories the Plymouth ladies have opened up the season with a record of 3-0 (0-0 in the conference). Plymouth returns home next Friday when they open up their annual Days Inn of Campton tournament at Foley Gymnasium.