Volleyball Dominates at Home, Starts 2-0 in Conference Play
The Mules hosted Conn. College and Bowdoin for their first matches in the Margaret M. Crook Center this season, defeating the Camels and Polar Bears for a 2-0 start in NESCAC play.
Friday against the Camels, Colby outmatched their opponent winning in straight sets 25-10, 25-8, and 25-20. The team totaled an impressive 39 kills, led by Emma Davis striking nine and first-year Azariah Love contributing seven.
Saturday, hosting Maine-state rival Bowdoin in front of a rambunctious home crowd, Colby stayed hot, stealing the first two sets with identical 25-16 scores. The Polar Bears were able to take the third set (25-20) before the Mules put the match away in the fourth by a score of 25-19. Sophomore LJ Grant delivered seventeen kills (second highest of her career) while adding 13 digs on the defensive end. Sydney Sick and Allison Rodriguez combined for 32 assists.
Colby is now 4-2 on the season and is tied for 1st in the NESCAC. They are set to return to action Wednesday, hosting the final opponent in the CBB trio Bates at 7:00pm.
Men’s Soccer Takes Two More Shutouts, Not Scored Upon All Season
The Colby Men's Soccer team exploded past USM Monday in a 4-0 victory, with all four scores coming in the second half. First-year Nicholas Donnelly (headline photo) found the back of the net in the 62nd minute off an assist by Lleyton Bristow to give Colby a 1-0 advantage. Seven minutes later, Joseph Beshel tallied his first collegiate goal. Donnelly continued his offensive push recording two more goals later in the half to secure a hat-trick.
Saturday, the Mules headed down to Hartford, Conn. for a NESCAC matchup against the Trinity Bantams. Following back-and-forth action to start the game, first-year Charlie Scott scored his first collegiate goal, assisted by Myles Culley, for the lone goal of the first half. Aggressive play continued in the second before Arkam Traore scored in the 62nd minute adding a cushion to Colby's lead. The hosts tried to battle back but were unable to find the back of the net as the Mules took the win 2-0.
The Mules now sit with a 3-0-1 record, tied for second in the NESCAC. Colby heads to the western region of the Bay State next weekend for two key conference matchups against Williams and Amherst.
Football Opens Season At Williams, Falls in Tight Battle 25-22
The last time the Colby Football team traveled to Williamstown, the Mules fell 42-0 to the eventual NESCAC Champions. Sparked by big plays Saturday, Colby had very different intentions this time around in their season opener against WIlliams.
Jumping to a 14-0 lead after scores by Locksley Burke (headline photo) and Matt McHugh, Williams battled back with 25 straight points to take a 25-14 lead. Colby's first score was set up by a blocked punt by Brendan Sawyer, covered by the Mules at the Williams 1-yard line. Burke punched into the end zone moments later for his first career score.
Sawyer scored Colby's third touchdown of the day halfway through the fourth quarter to bring the Mules to within three, but a strong offensive line for the Ephs sealed the game down the stretch converting first downs and running out the clock. McHugh was the leading target for Colby, tallying eight receptions for 160 yards. Julian Young was the leading tackler on defense, totaling 14 tackles (13 solo), as well as adding a tackle for loss and a blocked point after try. Young is currently the NESCAC leader in tackles.
Colby is back in action Saturday for their home opener, hosting the Bantams of Trinity College.
Loeb Stellar in the Cage, Mules Come Up Short With Bantams
After a midweek contest with the Nor'Easters of UNE (3-2 setback, goals by Lily Harrington and Catherine McNulty), the Colby Field Hockey team traveled to Hartford to take on Trinity College.
After a scoreless first half, the Bantams got on the board early in the third frame with the eventual game-winner. Trinity kept the pressure on with seven penalty corners in the second half and 20 total shots, but goalie Emily Loeb tallied her second double-digit save performance of the year with 13. Her 0.929 save percentage marked a career-best when seeing 10 or more shots, dropping her GA/avg on the season to 0.299.
The Mules are now 1-3 on the season and will host UMF Tuesday before heading to Williams and Amherst over the weekend.
Men’s Tennis Begins Season at the Middlebury Invitational
The Colby Men’s Tennis team began their 2023 fall campaign at the Middlebury Invitational, sending six players to the tournament. The event hosted Colby, Bates, Tufts, Middlebury, RPI, Skidmore and Brandies.
In the A flight singles, senior captain Joey Barrett had a fantastic weekend taking down three straight opponents before losing in a nail biter to Middlebury’s Julian Wu in the finals 1-6, 6-4, 6-10. The five other Mules all found success as well, each making a draw semi-final in either singles or doubles. First-years Sandeep Alapati and Paul Dandler notably made their college debuts, both picking up their first wins.
Head Coach Adam Reeb commented on the weekend saying, "It was a really good opening weekend overall. Everyone played well and had good results. We are excited to take the lessons learned from the past few days and apply them to the next two weeks of practice before ITA regionals."
Colby will travel to Bowdoin on September 29th to continue their fall season at the New England ITA Regional Tournament.
Women’s Soccer Battles USM and Trinity
In a midweek non-conference contest against the undefeated Huskies of USM, Colby held the edge in shots (22-8) and corners (4-2), but USM rode two goals early in the second half to earn their fourth win of the season. Pepper Joseph tallied her second goal of the season, accounting for all of Colby's scores to date in 2023.
Colby was able to out-shoot their opponent once again Saturday at Trinity, but it was the hosts who found the back of the net off a penalty kick in the 80th minute en route to a 1-0 victory. Colby keeper MK Marshall recorded four saves in the contest, totaling 10 saves on the season.
The Mules are now 1-3 and will be back at home to play Hartford on Tuesday before heading to Williams and Amherst over the weekend.
Golf Second at Thomas Invitational
The Colby golf team placed second out of eight competing teams at the Thomas Invitational Sunday, hosted at the Waterville Country Club. Nick Stapleton was the top performer for the Mules for the second weekend in a row, tying for 5th place behind four Husson golfers.
- T5 - Nick Stapleton 76
- T7 - Harrison Digangi 78
- T7 - Johnny Kinsley 78
- T14 - Mitchel Ham 80
- T17 - Jacob Teszler 83
Golf will continue their fall season at the UMF invitational Monday September 18th.
First-Year Nalavala Shines at Bates Invitational
After missing their first meet a week ago due to orientation commitments, first-years Noe Nalavala, Abbey Wolfe, and Max Adam made the most of their first collegiate competition, all placing in the top-33 in the 100-competitor field. Nalavala was the top finisher for the women's team, while Gordon Doore led the way for the men's team. For team scores, the women placed 5th and the men placed 6th.
Top-40 Finishers:
- 13 - Doore (men's team)
- 21 - Nalavala (women's team)
- 23 - Claire Beebe (women's team)
- 25 - Penny King (women's team)
- 26 - Abbey Wolfe (women's team)
- 29 - Hayden Bailey (men's team)
- 33 - Max Adam (men's team)
- 33 - Catherine Mongan (women's team)
The Mules will be back on the trails in two weeks at Husson for the Maine State Meet.
Special thank you to the photographers who helped make this production possible: Cole Burkhart '24, Steve Cheney P25, Stephen R. Clouthier, Ashley Conti, Jamie Fiedorek '25, Colin Flood '26, Steve Fuller @flyingpoint, Michael Garrett P23, Andrew Hearns P24, Peter Li '26, Michael Maher, Joshua McKee, Dustin Satloff '15, Ellie Sawyer P25, Isadora Wells '26, Ansley White '26