BRUNSWICK — Bowdoin College’s Sydney Salle was a freshman the last time the Polar Bears hosted the New England Small College Athletic Conference volleyball tournament.

It was also the last time the Polar Bears took home the championship. Salle and company were hoping for the same results again this year.

Top-seeded Bowdoin took down third-seeded Amherst, 3-1, to capture the 2018 title at Morrell Gymnasium on Sunday.

“As a freshman we were in the same position with hosting and coming out winning,” Salle said. “To do it again as a senior and lead a team and to have this win is absolutely unreal. The team put in so much work this year, it’s great to see the results show that too.”

Bowdoin finished the regular season 24-1 with a perfect 10-0 clip in the NESCAC. The 27 wins tied a program record. The team beat No. 8 Trinity (3-0) and No. 5 Tufts (3-2) to reach the finals. It is the third NESCAC title for the program (2011 and 2015) and second for fourth-year coach Erin Cady, who credits her seniors for helping the younger players on what to expect.

“I think the seniors did a great job painting the picture for the underclassmen on how special it is to host, and then along with that on how special it is to win,” Cady said. “A lot of credit to them for painting that picture of what we wanted to obtain.”

Bowdoin earned the NESCAC’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament that begins on Friday. The complete field will be announced at NCAA.com today. Amherst finished at 22-5 and hopes to land an at-large bid.

In the opening set, the teams stayed close. Amherst may not have led at any point during the set, but the Mammoths stayed with the Polar Bears, not trailing by more than three points midway through the frame.

Leading 13-10, the Polar Bears reeled off eight of the next 13 points to grab a 21-13 lead, during which Salle came up big with a pair of kills and a block.

“It was awesome for her today,” Cady said. “That’s one of the things we’ve done really well is spreading our talent along the net and in the back row.”

Amherst battled back, cutting the score down to three, 22-19, behind the service of Pearl Acord and aggressive play from Cameron Hendricks.

Following a Bowdoin timeout, a kill by Caroline Flaharty turned the serve back to the Polar Bears. From there, Kate Kiser serviced up an ace, and Ashley Williams made the final kill for the 25-19 victory.

As they had proven all weekend in the tournament, the Mammoths were not going to go down easily after beating No. 6 Williams (3-2) and No. 2 Weslayen (3-0) to reach Sunday’s final. Amherst raced out to an 8-0 lead to open the second set behind kills from Emily Kolsky and Claire Dennis.

Bowdoin slowly chipped away at the Mammoth lead, with the frontline of Salle, Williams and Flaharty tending the net and first-year Sophia Pahl diving all over the place. After a lengthy volley back-and-forth, Bowdoin was able to cut the lead to 18-15. That was as close as the Polar Bears were able to get as the Mammoths closed out the set with seven of the last eight points for the 25-16 victory.

Tied 1-1

Even though they defeated Amherst 3-1 last month, Cady and her team knew they had a formidable opponent in the Mammoths.

“I expected it to be a close battle like it was,” Cady said. “Watching their game with Wesleyan yesterday (Saturday), I was really impressed. They seemed to be firing on all cylinders and that’s what we wanted.”

Amherst took a quick 2-0 lead in the third set, but once Bowdoin received its chance, the Polar Bears showed why they were tops during the regular season, scoring 13 of the next 15 points, highlighted by a pair of blocks from Flaharty, Williams and Salle.

Salle’s second kill brought a large cheer from the 500-plus fans in attendance as the hosts took a commanding 13-5 lead. The Polar Bears kept up the intensity throughout the third set as they finished off Amherst for a 25-13 win.

With the sense of victory in the air in the fourth set, the hosts broke a 1-1 tie and surged to a 10-4 lead. Like a shark smelling blood in the water. Bowdoin’s energy kicked up a notch as the Polar Bears looked to end the match.

“We can have sets where we lose leads, but we don’t let that get to us,” Salle said. “When we feel the win coming, we just want to keep them down and keep pushing.”

And the Polar Bears did, finishing off the Mammoths with the teamwork and multiple contributors that has put them in this position.

Flaharty finished with 13 kills and a pair of blocks while having 14 digs. Williams had 12 kills to go with her two blocks, and Pahl had five kills, 24 digs and four service aces. Lisa Sheldon collected 29 digs and Kate Kiser handed out 41 assists in the win. Salle had 12 kills and had five blocks for Bowdoin, and the senior couldn’t be having any more fun.

“We celebrate on the court if we win a point, we celebrate if we lose point,” Salle said. “We are having a great time out there and having so much fun.”

Kolsky had a match-high 15 kills to go with 19 digs for the Mammoths, who got eight kills each from Jamie Dailey and Dennis. Charlotte Duran had 35 assists and 21 digs for Amherst.

As Bowdoin prepares this week for the NCAA Tournament, Salle sees the benefits of winning the conference tournament.

“Playing in front of such a big crowd was awesome,” the senior middle blocker said. “Knowing we’re going to face some other really great teams that have won their championships, we’re ready for really tough competition and excited for another week.”

Friday/Saturday

The Polar Bears swept Trinity, 3-0, in the quarterfinals on Friday night in Morrell Gymnasium.

Bowdoin cruised by set scores of 25-18, 25-21, 25-14.

Bowdoin broke open a tight first set with a 10-3 run, capped by kills from Williams and Pahl, to take a 21-12 lead en route to the 1-0 advantage.

Trinity stayed close in the second set, holding a late 20-19 lead before a 5-0 Bowdoin run sealed the set following kills from Cori Gray and Williams.

The hosts never trailed in the third set, sprinting to an early lead and closing it out with seven consecutive points to clinch the victory.

On Saturday, Bowdoin rallied from a 2-1 deficit for a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Tufts in the semifinals.

The Polar Bears took the opening set, but dropped the second and third sets by 25-20, 25-13 scores before rallying to a 25-21 in the fourth set.

Tufts scored the first two points of the deciding fifth set and held a 3-1 lead before Bowdoin came alive with a 4-0 run to take the lead. Tufts tied the match at 6-6, but a 4-1 Polar Bear run pushed the hosts ahead for good.

Bowdoin ended the match on a 4-1 run, closing it on consecutive kills by Flaharty and Kiser to seal it for the 15-9 win.

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