With Wins Over Williams and Middlebury, Volleyball Stands Alone Atop NESCAC
Despite all of the recent success of the Colby Volleyball program, it had been since 2005 since the Mules defeated Williams College... until Friday night.
After an opening set that saw Colby take with ease (25-13), the Mules and Ephs traded punches across the next three frames to force a winner-take-all fifth and final set. Chasing the entire way until the very end, Colby took serve down 13-9 and never looked back. LJ Grant toed the line and led the Mules to six straight points to take the victory.
Brady Moseley led the attack with 13 kills while Cyanne Jones and Sydney Bopp dominated at the net with seven and five total blocks, respectively.
Saturday's matinee against Middlebury was set up as a must-watch as both clubs entered the match undefeated in conference play. Despite a close battle in each set, the Mules stayed ahead of pace and led from start to finish, sending the Panthers home in straight sets (25-21, 25-19, 25-23) while also extending their record to 16-1.
Colby will host Maine Maritime on Tuesday before taking to the road next weekend for two more conference matches. The Mules will be at Tufts on Friday before traveling to Lewiston to face Bates on Saturday.
Women's Soccer Collects Two Shutouts, Highlighted by 0-0 Draw at #7 Middlebury
Opening the week Tuesday with a non-conference battle against Husson, the Mules wasted little time in taking control. Abigail Jarvi connected for her fifth of the season less than four minutes into play, and Catherine Watrous (sixth goal) and Jadyn Liebman (second) gave Colby a 3-0 lead at the break. Three more goals in the final frame, including Watrous' second of the match, led Colby to a 6-0 shutout.
Watrous currently leads the NESCAC in goals and points.
Sitting in a playoff position with their highest conference win tally since 2018, the Colby Women's Soccer team eyed a golden opportunity on the road on Saturday. Facing #7 Middlebury, it would have been understandable to expect Colby to stack the defensive end in hopes of limiting the vaunted attack of the Panthers. After a first half that saw the field tipped in favor of the hosts 8-2 in shots, the Mules flipped the field and dominated possession and scoring opportunities, out-shooting Middlebury 13-3 in the final half. Excellent play by both sides saw the match end in a 0-0 draw as Colby took home valuable points in the conference standings.
Both goaltenders played great, with Colby's MK Marshall collecting a season-high seven saves. The Mules now have seven shutouts on the season and have not allowed a goal since September.
Colby is now 8-3-1 and sit in 6th place in the NESCAC. Their lone match of the coming week will be on Saturday when they host the 2-8-1 Bantams of Trinity College.
Despite Dominant Defensive Performance, Wesleyan Tops Football in Overtime
For the second year in a row a Colby-Wesleyan matchup could not be decided in regulation. Despite holding an edge late in the fourth quarter, a fumble returned for a touchdown in overtime pushed the Cardinals past the Mules.
With strong swirling winds all afternoon, points were hard to come by early. The first half saw two short Wesleyan field goals and Colby's lone score came on a strip sack by Jack Mullen that Lincoln Merrill scooped and returned 90 yards for a touchdown. Mullen leads the NESCAC with six sacks in five games.
Colby owned the lone score in the third quarter as Miles Drake found Atticus Duncan in the end zone for his third touchdown of the season. Down 14-6 as the clock ticked into the fourth quarter, Wesleyan capped an eight-play 58-yard drive with a two-yard snag route to the front pylon. The ensuing two-point play was good, tying the score at 14.
Colby responded with a 60-yard drive that lasted 18 plays, finishing with a Christos Tzoumakas 33-yard field goal to put the Mules ahead with seven minutes to play. Wesleyan was able to move the chains into field goal range on the ensuing drive and with less than a minute left, the Cardinals drilled the tying field goal to force extra time.
The Mules held possession first in overtime, and after positioning themselves 1st-and-goal at the six yard line, a sack fumble was scooped by a Wesleyan defender and returned 88 yards for the deciding score.
Colby struggled to move the ball on offense, totaling nine first downs and 118 yards compared to 23 and 246 for the Cardinals respectively. Colby's defense carried the torch all afternoon led by last year's All-NESCAC First Team selection Young. The linebacker tallied a season-high 15 tackles and 1.5 sacks, and the NESCAC's leading tackler in 2023 is back in a familiar spot leading the conference in tackles once again after five games. Colby tallied five sacks and forced three fumbles, two by edge rusher Mullen.
The Mules return to Mayflower Hill this coming Saturday for a showdown against 2-3 Amherst College. While the Mammoths own the series record by a wide margin, Colby has won each of the last three contests (+3.6 margin per matchup).
Lone Goal Tips #4 Middlebury Past Men's Soccer
Against an undefeated Panthers team in their lone match of the week, the Mules fought hard on Saturday but ultimately came up short in the 1-0 final.
The teams began the second half knotted at 0 but the Panthers found the back of the net quickly just 30 seconds into the frame. Down 1-0, Colby created scoring opportunities for six shots in the final 20 minutes of play, but the Middlebury keeper kept the net clean to remain undefeated. The 1-0 score marks only the fourth time all season the Panthers failed to score two or more, averaging almost three goals per game.
The 4-7 Mules will wrap up non-conference play Monday night at Maine Maritime Academy before hosting Trinity on Saturday.
Field Hockey Takes Out Southern Maine to Remain Perfect in Non-Conference Matches
Colby embarked on its fourth double-header weekend of the season, with its first stop visiting the top-ranked team in Division III, the Middlebury Panthers.
Middlebury entered the game a perfect 10-0 and led the conference in almost all key offensive categories. Despite a gritty effort by the Mules, the Panthers tallied two goals in the first quarter and four in the second en route to defending their turf 9-0. Colby goalkeepers Opal O'Rourke and Harri Baker combined for 33 saves, three shy of a program record.
The Mules bounced back Sunday with a spirited 6-2 victory in Gorham against Southern Maine. Catherine McNulty got the scoring going early with her second goal of the season four minutes into play. Allain McKay added two scores while Lize Takoudes and Bridget Everett added strikes of their own, and first-year Hadley Swenson scored her first collegiate goal early in the fourth quarter.
The Mules are 6-5 and tied with Amherst and Bowdoin for 8th place in the NESCAC. Colby holds the tiebreaker over both opponents, having defeated the Mammoths and Polar Bears earlier in the season.
Colby returns to Mayflower Hill for another double-header weekend, hosting Trinity on Saturday before welcoming Endicott on Sunday.
Men's Tennis Wins Singles and Doubles Draw at Wallach Invitational
The Mules wrapped up the fall season this weekend in Lewiston highlighted by winning both the A singles and doubles draws.
Paul Dandler (headline photo) defeated four straight opponents to be crowned the winner of the A singles bracket, including a dominant 6-3, 6-0 win in the finals against his Trinity opponent. Marco Ziets-Segura grabbed a win in the round of 16 before falling in the quarterfinals. In the B singles draw James Bogdanovic defeated three opponents to make it to the finals but came up short in the tight battle (6-4, 0-6, 10,5).
In the doubles bracket, Colby made up three of the four semifinal pairings. Bogdanovic and Jason Daly defeated fellow Mules Ziets-Segura and Jake Cohen in the semifinal and then Diego Sosa and Dandler in the finals to be crowned the winners of the doubles draw.
Men’s Tennis will be back in action this spring.
Golf Concludes Fall Season Hosting USM and Husson
On Sunday, the Mules hit the links for the final time this fall hosting the Colby Classic at the Waterville Country Club.
The three teams played a Ryder Cup format consisting of two pairings per school. The first six holes were played using best ball, the next six used scrambles, and the day was finished with alternating shots.
The Mules as a team placed 2nd of the three with a -6 total. The pairing of Johnny Kinsley and Jack Dorsey scored a -4 followed by Jeevan Anand and Mitchell Ham with a -3. USM took first place three strokes ahead of Colby (-9) with Husson placing third (+29).
Colby will be back in action this spring.
Women’s Tennis Wraps up Fall Competition at the Middlebury Invite
The Mules, alongside Trinity and Skidmore, traveled to Vermont for the three-day invite hosted by the Panthers.
On day one, Colby secured a lone doubles win against Middlebury from the pairing of Jade Finestone and Ella Novion before sweeping the Thoroughbreds of Skidmore in doubles 4-0.
Saturday, Amelie Gal began the day with a singles win over her Panther opponent 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. The Mules then finished the day in orderly fashion sweeping the Bantams in Doubles (3-0) after taking four out of the seven singles matchups with Skidmore.
The invite concluded on day three with Colby winning four out of five single matchups over Trinity.
With their three fall tournaments now concluded, Women’s Tennis will return to the courts in the spring.
Special thank you to the photographers who helped make this production possible: Bonnie Baker Photography, 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.