The Colby volleyball team went into the week looking for its first New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) win, but was unable to get the job done in three chances. The week started early for Colby with a Wednesday night matchup against Bowdoin and ended at Bates with games against Middlebury and Amherst.

In their last game against Bowdoin, Colby fell in three straight sets. This time the Mules looked poised to take revenge on their rivals, only to have victory snatched away at the last second. The match started off well, with Colby taking the first two sets by scores of 26-24 and 25-21.

Things quickly went downhill with Bowdoin taking the next three by scores of 25-19, 25-21, 15-10.
Although they did not come away from the match with a win, the Mules showed their defensive muscle by ending the game with four players recording 20 or more digs. Maggie Taylor '13 led the team with 25 digs, while Clare Reich '11 had 24, Caitlin Burchill '12 contributed 22 and Kate Pleasants '14 ended with 20.

While it was the defense that stole the stat sheet, the Mules also put up some impressive offensive numbers. Taylor added seven kills to her record while Burchill racked up 11 kills and two aces of her own. Pleasants continued her run of exemplary performances with 32 assists and a pair of aces.

With their first NESCAC win continuing to elude them, Colby traveled to Bates to face Middlebury and Amherst. However, the losing streak was doomed to continue as the Mules lost 3-1 to Middlebury and 3-0 to Amherst.

Colby fought hard against Middlebury, forcing four sets, but in the end lost by a score of 25-17, 21-25, 25-18, 25-12. Despite close scores in the first three sets Colby was unable to stand up to the Middlebury offense.

Defensively, Reich turned in another great performance racking up 20 defensive digs, while Hannah Bowman '11 added nine more along with three aces. Taylor also had an impressive game, adding seven kills and 15 digs to her stat sheet. Pleasants again played a key role in the offense by recording 24 assists and also helped out on defense ending the game with 10 digs. Heather Arvidson '11 and Lily Kramlich-Taylor '14 each made important contributions. Arvidson added five blocks and four kills while Kramlich-Taylor slammed five kills.

Colby's last match of the week was against Amherst College on Saturday morning. Colby came into the game knowing that this would be the challenge of the weekend. Amherst is a perennial volleyball powerhouse.

This season the Lord Jeffs have once again proved their merit and came into their match against Colby confident and ready with a 9-1 record overall. However, the Mules were far from easy prey. The match started off with two close sets, Amherst winning 25-17 and 25-20 before the Lord Jeffs' offense finally overpowered the Mules winning the last set by a score of 25-8.

This week Colby will face Husson on Wednesday before travelling to Williams for a NESCAC tournament. The Mules will be searching for their first league win, this time at the expense of either Williams or Hamilton.