Volleyball wins first-ever NCAA game

Women’s volleyball ended their season with a loss to UMass Boston in the second round of the NCAA tournament. After what might possibly have been the Panthers’ best season ever, the team fell in a close match Saturday afternoon. Despite this disappointment, the team picked up several distinctions along the way from not only the NESCAC, but also the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and the New England Women’s Volleyball Association (NEWVA). They finish the season with an impressive 25-6 record and their lengthiest NCAA appearance to date.
After traveling to Springfield, Mass. on Thursday, third-seeded Middlebury went up against sixth-seeded Polytechnic. The Panthers annihilated this first opponent and picked up Middlebury’s first ever NCAA volleyball win. Winning three straight sets, the Panthers never let the opposing team score more than 15 points in any given set. In the fairly brief match, Megan Jarchow ’14 picked up nine kills and Julia Gibbs ’13 added eight.
The following day Middlebury went up against UMass Boston in the second round of the tournament. Despite winning the first set, Middlebury failed to hold on to the lead and saw the game slip away from them. The fourth and final set was a heartbreakingly close one, which the Panthers lost after pushing it to 29 points. Gibbs earned 15 digs and Jane Handel ’12 had a close 14.
At the end of the season, Handel summed up her emotions by aptly saying, “I was disappointed by the loss but overall it was a fantastic season. We came really far in one year.” Elissa Goeke ’12 concurred adding, “I’m excited for next year. Hopefully we can build on this season”.
Middlebury dominated the NESCAC awards and were prominent in the AVCA and NEWVA recognitions. The Panthers took three of the four individual NESCAC awards –– Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year. Former NESCAC Rookie of the Year Handel was named the Player of the Year after her outstanding season. She was also named to the AVCA New England All-Region team for the third straight season and to the NEWVA All-New England first team. Lauren Barrett ’11 joined Handel on the NESCAC, AVCA and NEWVA first teams. This slew of awards caps off a remarkable season for the co-captains. Gibbs joined Handel and Barrett on the All-Region team and was on the NESCAC second team. Jarchow’s efforts paid off as she was named NESCAC Rookie of the Year and named to NEWVA All-Rookie team. This is the third season in a row that Middlebury has been awarded the Rookie of the Year title as Jarchow follows in the footsteps of Handel and Gibbs. In her 16th year as coach of Middlebury volleyball, Sarah Raunecker was awarded the NESCAC Coach of the Year title for the second time and was given the same honor in the NEWVA awards. As their college careers draw to a close, Barrett and Whitney Bean ’10.5 were selected as New England Senior All-Stars.
Next year’s team will return a promising group of underclassmen, who should be in a good position to continue the trend of success Middlebury volleyball has established in recent years.