Middlebury battled back after dropping the first two sets to level the match at 2-2, but was edged in five sets (25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 22-25, 15-10) by MIT (19-4) on Friday during the opening day of the New England Challenge. The Panthers (10-6) return to action on Saturday, playing an 11:00 a.m. match against Springfield, followed by a 3:30 p.m. contest against 22nd-ranked Babson. Both contests will be played at MIT.

Trailing 5-4 in the opening set, the Engineers rattled off an 11-2 run for a 15-7 lead on a kill Alyssa Unell. The Panthers sliced into the deficit, cutting it to 19-16 on an MIT setting error. The hosts recorded four of the next five points and grabbed a 1-0 lead.

Ahead 13-12 in the second frame, MIT rattled off a 7-2 spurt, capped by a pair of kills from Hannah Collins, for a 20-14 lead. The Panthers moved to within 22-18 on a kill from Shea Golden, but MIT finished the set with a 3-1 run, taking a two-set advantage on a kill from Alexis Groark.

The third set saw the Panthers move out to a 13-7 lead on an Engineer attack error. The hosts gradually worked back into the frame, tying it at 19-19 on a kill by Andie Maloney. After trading the next six points, Middlebury tallied the final three of the set, capped by a block assist from Jane Nelson and Corley Doyle to pull within 2-1.

Down 22-18 in a tightly-contested fourth set which neither side had larger than a four-point lead, the visitors rattled off the last seven points to knot the contest at 2-2. Golden and Lucy Ambach highlighted the spurt with two kills apiece.

Up 5-4 in the decisive set, MIT went on a 6-2 run for an 11-6 edge on a kill by Shea Landeene. Middlebury pulled to within 12-9 on a kill from Nelson, but the Engineers scored three of the next four points to earn the five-set victory.

Maggie Wise and Nelson led Middlebury with 10 kills apiece, while Golden added seven. Emma Walsh had 20 assists and Chellsa Ferdinand added 17, while Gigi Alper had a team-high 17 digs, Kelly Ferrero chipped in with 14 and Wise had 10. Doyle ended the match with a block solo and nine block assists for 10 total blocks, tying her with Melanie English '17 for second in program history for a five-set match. Jaime Donnelly added five block assists.

MIT was paced by Groark with 24 kills, while Unell had 11 and Collins chipped in with 10. Andie Maloney recorded a match-high 54 assists for the Engineers, while Madison Lee dug up 16 balls and Sofie Kupiec tallied 15. Emily Condon recorded six block assists for the hosts.