WATERVILLE — The Colby College volleyball team is in the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time since 2005.
At practice Tuesday night, the Mules showed no signs of feeling any nerves. They moved with ease from one drill to the next, and players occasionally cracked a few jokes to lighten the mood.
Colby enters the tournament ranked 15th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association DIII poll. The Mules will meet UMass-Dartmouth (23-6) in a first-round match at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“We’re pumped,” said junior captain Sydney Bopp. “This is the first time in a long time that a Colby team will be going to the NCAAs. With our team chemistry this year, I think it’s super exciting for us to continue the season. We’re not ready to stop playing yet.”
“I just think it’s really cool to see how far our program has gone in such a short amount of time,” added fourth-year coach Lindsay Johnson. “I look forward to a potential NCAA tournament run that’s longer than this weekend, but at the end of the day, it’s going to set us up for greater success next year.”
A school Hall of Fame player at Elmhurst University in Illinois, Johnson led all of Division III in assists (1,837) during the 2004 season. She returned to Elmhurst as an assistant coach in 2008, rising to associate head coach under Julie Hall in 2012. Johnson became Colby’s head coach in 2021. Colby has reached the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) playoffs in each of the last three seasons, reaching the conference final this year for the first time since 2005.
Hall is now on Johnson’s staff.
“I have very high expectations for every team I’ve been a part of, and I know what we had returning (for this season),” Johnson said. “I knew we were going to have a successful season, and I have high goals for this team, to win conference (titles) and get to the NCAA tournament. I wouldn’t say I’m surprised (by the success).”
Colby features a young roster — it plays seven juniors and no seniors. The Mules secured a major victory early in the season, a 3-1 decision over New York University, then ranked seventh in the nation.
“That was kind of one of the first games where we went, ‘Wow, we can really handle this and this kind of competition,” Bopp said. “We saw what the season could be like. The chemistry helped that (progression) a lot over the offseason.”
“We’ve also beaten some NESCAC teams (this year) that we haven’t beaten in a really long time,” added junior captain LJ Grant. “We swept some of them, and that’s pretty awesome.”
Several players have contributed to the team’s success. Grant leads the Mules with 227 kills, while sophomore Jordan Lee has 390 assists. Lee and Grant lead the team in service aces (44), followed by sophomore Gabby Grujic (43).
“Skill wise, we have a very balanced offense, which makes us harder to defend against,” Johnson said. “It’s not like we have just one hitter (a team) can defend against. They have to focus on all six of our front row players.”
Regardless of the outcome against UMass-Dartmouth, the team is excited for the future, as it will return its entire roster next fall.
“(It’s exciting) knowing that next year, it’s the same team and there’s so much more we can improve on,” Bopp said. “Just perfecting the little things, knowing we have that time and that year to hopefully figure that out.”
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