Head coach Candice Parent and the Colby volleyball team had a dream season in 2005: NESCAC champions, NCAA New England Regional champions, a 37-4 record, an unbeaten record in NESCAC during the regular season.
The NESCAC tourney championship title and the New England regional title happened in front of big crowds at Colby's Wadsworth Gymnasium. After going 10-0 in league play during the regular season, the volleyball team hosted the NESCAC tourney November 4-6. The Mules won three straight matches, including the title match win over Tufts University, to earn Colby's first NESCAC title in any sport in a round-robin tournament format (the 2003 women's crew won Colby's first NESCAC title by finishing first among NESCAC schools at the ECAC meet).
Colby earned its first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament bid by winning the NESCAC tourney. The Mules followed that excitement by hosting the NCAA New England Regional the following weekend. The Mules once again won three straight matches, including another victory over Tufts in the regional final. An enthusiastic crowd of more than 1,100 fans watched the win over the Jumbos.
The Mules' season finally ended in the NCAA quarterfinals with a loss to defending national champion Juniata College in Salem, Virginia. Colby finished the year ranked 19th in the country in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll.
Senior tri-captain Kaitlin Adams earned honorable mention All-America honors after leading the NESCAC in hitting percentage at .378. Adams finished her career as the all-time hitting percentage leader (.333). She finished with a team-best 135 blocks this year and had 425 kills.
The volleyball program started as a varsity sport in 1991, and Parent has been with the team as head coach or as an assistant since 1993.
Kimberly Prescott '04 owns nearly every assist and service ace record at Colby. Both Prescott and outside hitter Cleaver were Regional All-America selections in 2003, the first such honors for Colby volleyball players at the time.
