Women’s volleyball extends stellar record with first place finish in the New England Challenge
Gebhard ’17, Wuthrich ’17 shine on offense, defense respectively
This past weekend, MIT women’s volleyball hosted the second annual New England Challenge in the Rockwell Cage. The Engineers finished 2-1, besting the rest of the teams that competed and capturing the tournament title for the second year in a row. Megan Gebhard ’17 and Tori Wuthrich ’17, in addition to being selected to the all-tournament team, were respectively named NEWMAC offensive and defensive players of the week for their impressive performances.
MIT started the weekend off playing Williams College on Friday night. The Engineers overpowered them to record a 3-1 victory. Carly Staub ’19 finished the game with 12 kills on an impressive .474 kill percentage. Christina Liao ’19 ended with a total of 48 assists.
MIT played two games on Saturday, the first of which was against Tufts. The Engineers struggled early in the game, dropping the first two sets 25-21 and 25-22 respectively. Despite being in a hole early, the team remained resilient under pressure, climbing out and winning the next two sets, 23-25 and 21-25. What could have easily been a quick, and one-sided game ended up becoming a thriller. MIT unfortunately couldn’t complete the comeback. The final set ended 15-10. Megan Gebhard led all players with 21 kills, and Tori Wuthrich supported the defense with 20 digs.
The final game of the tournament was against Middlebury. The Engineers did not let the end of the last match sway their focus and went in determined to bounce back. It didn’t take long for them to gain control of the game, allowing them to sweep Middlebury for a 3-0 victory. Gebhard and Wuthrich again powered MIT with 16 kills and 18 digs respectively.
Following the tournament, MIT stands with an overall record of 24-4 and has won 14 of their last 15 games. The Engineers will play their final game of the regular season against the U.S. Coast Guard Academy this coming Saturday. The Engineers are primed and ready for November as they look to prepare for the NEWMAC and NCAA tournaments. If one thing is evident from the way this season has progressed, they are ready to compete and give it their all, even when facing adversity.