Mimi Richards ’20 surpassed the Bison volleyball program record for most block assists in a single season on Oct. 27, when the team took the victory over Lehigh. The win against the Mountain Hawks came in an intense five-set game, and the Orange and Blue rode that momentum into a four-set win over Lafayette on Oct. 29. With the wins, the Bison brought their season record to 12-12 overall and 6-6 in the Patriot League.

Richards, who tallied her 106th block assist of the season in a dominant ten-block performance against Lehigh, beat the 1996 school record of 105 by Melissa Wharton ’98. She then added three more block assists against Lafayette. Richards also leads the Patriot League in block assists, averaging 1.38 per set.

Celeste Barker ’18, who joins Richards in the league top 10 list in blocks, recorded eight block assists and 10 kills. Sophie Bullard ’20 notched another double-double with 18 kills and 14 digs.

Luz Nagle ’18 finished with 22 assists while teammate Alexa Bonanno ’21 added 17. Brooke Stark ’20 had a team-high 22 digs.

“Against Lehigh we really showed our grit as a team; we never backed down and it paid off with a big win,” Richards said.

The Bison relied strongly on their defense to secure the 3-1 win at Lafayette for their sixth league victory of the season. They held the Leopards to a .079 hitting percentage. Bullard and Stefanie Alpert ’18 tallied a combined 31 kills and 21 digs in the winning effort. Bullard had her 11th double-double of the season, and Richards had 10 kills on .333 hitting percentage. Setters Nagle and Bonnano each tallied 21 assists. Nagle sits ninth in the league this season in assists, averaging 5.74 per set.

“I am extremely proud of how well our team has done this year. I hope we can continue to work together to finish out our season on a winning streak and be eligible to attend the tournament,” Hailey Stout ’18 said.

The Bison sit tied with Colgate and one game behind Lehigh for the fourth and final seed in the Patriot League playoffs. With four games remaining in the regular season schedule, they will continue to fight for that spot at home matches against Navy on Nov. 3 and Loyola on Nov. 4.