Volleyball Takes Win Streak to 11, Riveting Victory Over Bowdoin
In Brunswick Friday night the Mules battled the Polar Bears in a rematch from last year's NESCAC Quarterfinals matchup.
The two teams played tight trading the first four sets leading to a final fifth set thriller. The deciding set was played the same as the rest of the match, fiercely battled with both teams scrapping for points. Two points away from victory, the hosts looked to push back after winning the next rally, but Sarah Friedrichs put the match away converting the final two kills to seal the set 15-11 and help Colby take the 3-2 win.
The offensive push was led by LJ Grant and Marjorie Johnson securing 13 kills, each followed closely by Friedrichs with 11. Sydney Bopp continues to be an important defensive presence at the net after totaling eight blocks in the match. Grujic and Jordan Lee had 48 assists combined while Reese Loyd picked up 17 digs.
The Mules hosted a tri-match Saturday sweeping both UMFK and Thomas in straight sets. Colby only allowed their opponents an average of 13.5 points per set across the two matches. Emma Davis totaled 26 kills on the day as Loyd picked up six aces against the Terriers.
Colby has a 12-1 overall record, good for third in the conference standings. The Mules will prepare for four straight NESCAC matchups starting with a weekend road trip at Hamilton on Friday and Amherst Saturday.
Field Hockey Upsets #9 Amherst in Overtime
The Mules hosted two powerhouse opponents over the weekend in #3 Williams and #9 Amherst. After battling with the Ephs on Saturday leading to a 2-0 Williams victory, Colby looked to avenge their loss by taking it to the Mammoths the following day.
Behind a scoreless opening frame, Casey Winslow got the Mules on the board first just 40 seconds into the second quarter off a feed from Bridget Everett. Despite a key penalty stroke save by goalie Leah Anderson late in the second, Amherst was able to tie it up ahead of the halftime break.
Following a scoreless third quarter, the Mammoths found the back of the net with eight minutes remaining in the game, but the Mules were successful in a response as Maddie Campbell scored her first goal of the season to tie the game and send it into overtime. Off a penalty corner just a minute-thirty into the overtime period, Casey Winslow secured her second goal of the game, also her second OT game-winner of the season, to send Amherst home empty handed.
Anderson had a stellar weekend in net totaling 18 saves in the two games combined.
Colby is now 5-3 on the season (2-3 in conference play, good for seventh) and will travel to Hamilton and Middlebury this coming weekend.
Cohen Makes Impressive Run at ITA Regionals
The Men’s Tennis team traveled to Tufts over the weekend for the ITA Regional Tournament, featuring the best Division III players from the northeast region. The Mules had two players competing in the A singles draw, four in B singles and three pairs in the 48-team doubles draw.
Jake Cohen had the best performance for the team during the three-day event making it all the way to the A singles semifinals. Along his path, Cohen defeated four opponents (from Bowdoin, Amherst, Tufts, and Middlebury), including two top-five seeded players. The senior eventually fell to top-seeded Vuk Vuksanovic from Tufts in the semifinal round who went on to be crowned champion. In the B singles draw, Diego Sosa had a strong showing, defeating his Springfield opponent 8-4 in the opening round before falling to his #1 seeded Middlebury opponent in the second round.
In doubles, the pairing of Paul Dandler and Sosa were victorious in the first round and followed it up with an upset win over their sixth-seeded opponents from Williams 8-5 before being knocked out in the round of 16. Cohen and Marco Ziets-Segura also found success in the first round defeating their opponents 8-4.
"We had a great showing at our ITA Regionals this weekend. Jake has put so much work in and I'm really proud of him for making the semifinals. He played some amazing tennis and competed so well. This will be a great springboard for him for the rest of the year. Paul and Diego also played some great doubles, getting into the Round of 16 and all of our guys competed hard and gained some valuable experience. We will build on this tournament as there were a lot of lessons learned. We're excited to have a home dual match this weekend!" - Head Coach Adam Reeb.
The Mules will return to action Saturday hosting Clark University in the team's first dual match of the 2024-25 season.
Men's Soccer Battles All Week with Three One-Score Matches
Before a weekend double header where the Mules hosted two of the top teams across all of Division III, Colby hosted Endicott for a Tuesday night matchup. In a tightly contested battle, the Mules emerged victorious after Colin Leon connected off a Jason Wallack feed in the 77th minute to take a 1-0 non-conference win.
Welcoming the Ephs of Williams College Saturday, the visitors struck first in the 33rd minute but the Mules answered back just moments later. Jasper Paez (headline photo) tallied his first goal of the season to push the match even heading into halftime. Williams scored once more midway through the second half and, despite a flurry of attempts down the stretch, the game concluded 2-1 in favor of the Ephs.
Back to the pitch Sunday, Colby hosted 25th-ranked Amherst to mark the midpoint in the NESCAC season. An early goal proved to be the difference as the Mammoths secured the 1-0 win. Goalkeeper Brendan McCarthy set a new season-high with six saves, and now ranks 4th in the NESCAC with 26 saves on the season.
Colby falls to 3-5 and will return to the road for another double-header weekend. The Mules will visit Hamilton on Saturday before working their way back east along I-90 for a matchup at RPI on Sunday.
Women's Soccer Plays Tough with #18 Williams and #2 Amherst
After a wonderful Homecoming victory a week ago, the Women's Soccer team returned to the pitch of Mark R. Serdjenian Field this weekend for a conference double-header. Despite playing all 180 minutes with spirit and grit, Colby dropped a one-score match to Williams Saturday and fell to the 2nd-ranked team in all of Division III Sunday.
Before Saturday's matchup with #18 Williams, Colby celebrated its three seniors for their commitment to the Women's Soccer program over their four years.
After a scoreless first half Williams was able to break through the Colby defense in the 54th minute for the lone goal of the game.
In Sunday's match with the Mammoths, the visitors tallied twice in the first half and added a third score in the second half to remain undefeated on the season. Last week's NESCAC Player of the Week MK Marshall (headline photo) recorded four saves Saturday and two more Sunday.
The Mules are now 5-3 at the halfway point in the NESCAC season, currently sitting in 6th place in the conference standings.
Tied at 10 at the Break, Middlebury Slips Away Down the Stretch
The Colby College Football team entered their week three challenge in Vermont up against one of the top teams in the NESCAC in each of the past two seasons. Middlebury sported a combined record of 16-4 in 2022, 2023, and 2024 coming into the game. After a 10-10 first half, The Panthers slipped away in the second half outscoring the Mules 14-6 for a 24-16 final.
Scoring in the first quarter was done in threes as the two teams traded field goals in the opening frame. Middlebury scored first, but a Christos Tzoumakas 35-yard kick knotted the score at three apiece with less than a minute to play in the first. The hosts jumped back in front early in the second quarter only to have Colby close the frame strong with a Declan McNamara 12-yard scamper to tie the game at 10.
In a battle of field position for the final 30 minutes (the two teams combined for eight punts in the third quarter alone), the Panthers broke through twice with scoring strikes of 40 and 65 yards to jump out to a two-score lead. Colby's final two drives led to scoring opportunities as they scratched to erase the deficit. On the second to last drive that began at Colby's three-yard line, the Mules mounted a 17-play drive that ended with a sack fumble on 4th down at Middlebury's 16-yard line. On Colby's final drive, quarterback Miles Drake found John Ogletree in the back of the end zone as the clock ran out, capping a 13-play drive that covered 69 yards.
Drake captured his third consecutive 200-yard passing game to start the season, with Duke Ferrara setting a new career-high with 10 receptions. Jack Mullen was a force on the defensive front generating three sacks for -24 yards.
Colby will host Bates Saturday night for the opening leg of the CBB series. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm.
Golf Takes Third at Mariner Invitational
Before heading to the Bowdoin Invitational over the weekend where the team placed 19th, the Mules made a quick trip over to the Augusta Country Club for the Mariner Invitational on Tuesday.
With a team total score of +33 Colby grabbed a podium spot for the fourth time this fall, just one stroke behind second place UNE. Individually, Jack Dorsey and Johnny Kinsley led the team with a +3 and +4 placing them 5th and 6th overall. Nick Stapleton finished just inside the top-15 with a score of +9.
Dorsey was the leader for Colby in the two-day event at Bowdoin, shooting a +8 for 30th place in the 112-person field. Kinsley was Colby's next scorer five strokes behind.
Next up, Colby will host Bates and Bowdoin Sunday for the CBB Invite at the Waterville Country Club.
Special thank you to the photographers who helped make this production possible: Steve Cheney P25, Stephen R. Clouthier, Ashley Conti, Traigh DeMasi '28, Jamie Fiedorek '25, Colin Flood '26, Steve Fuller @flyingpoint, Peter Li '26, Michael Maher, Reese Robinson '27, Ellie Sawyer P25, Isadora Wells '26, Ansley White '26 and the Colby Communications team.