The 2011 Volleyball Hall of Fame Women's Invitational is slated to take place on the campuses of Mount Holyoke College and Smith College this weekend. Tournament action will kick off with eight matches on Friday and conclude with 16 more on Saturday. A total of 16 teams from around New England are participating in the annual event.
Now in its 20
th year, the tournament will include Brandeis University, Amherst College, MIT, Bowdoin College, Springfield College, Bridgewater State University, Colby College, Gordon College, Tufts University, Westfield State University, Wheaton College, Williams College, Wellesley College and Middlebury College in addition to Mount Holyoke and Smith.
Gordon vs. Mount Holyoke
Friday, October 21
In game one of the Hall of Fame Invitational this evening on the campus of Mount Holyoke College, the Fighting Scots were overtaken by tournament host Mount Holyoke, 3-1, to move to an even 12-12 overall on the season.
The Scots jumped out of the gates to capture the early momentum in the match, claiming a 25-16 victory in the opening set to leave their hosts trailing, 1-0. That proved as close as they would get, however, as the Lyons, not to be outdone on their home court, took charge of the next three sets, downing the Scots 25-12, 25-10, 25-20 to grab the four-set win.
Lauren Kranyak (So/Locust Grove, Va.) recorded seven kills for Gordon in the loss, while Joy Kimmel (Fr./Madison, Conn.) dished 18 assists.
The Scots will look to rebound at 10:00a.m. on Saturday on Smith's campus as they take on the Polar Bears of New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) powerhouse Bowdoin College, who enter the contest ranked 25th standing at 18-1 overall on the season.
Gordon vs. Bowdoin
Saturday, October 22
Gordon vs. Wheaton (Mass.)
Saturday, October 22
After falling in the opening match of the Hall of Fame Invitational to host Mount Holyoke on Friday night, the Fighting Scots looked to get back on the winning track against the 25th-ranked Polar Bears of Bowdoin College in non-conference action at Smith College. The Polar Bears proved too strong for the Scots, however, claiming a straight-set, 25-13, 25-12, 25-15, win over Gordon to bump them to 12-13 overall on the season.
Following their match with Bowdoin, the Scots were hopeful to rebound in their final match of the tournament with New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) power Wheaton College in another non-conference head-to-head. After claiming the first two sets, 25-21, 25-20, the Scots were well on their way to claiming a straight-set tournament win. The Lyons, however, rallied back to capture a close-fought 26-24 win in set three and used that momentum to carry them through a pair of wins in the final sets (25-19, 15-7) to claim the come from behind 3-2 win and blank the Scots on the weekend.
The women will return to play on Tuesday, October 25 as they travel to Standish, Maine to face St. Joseph's College in a non-conference match at 7:00p.m.
