The Middlebury volleyball team picked up a pair of victories against Rhode Island College (25-10, 25-8, 25-7) and Wheaton (25-13, 25-10, 22-25, 25-16) on the second day of the Wheaton Invitational. The Panthers improve to 5-0, marking their best start in program history. Middlebury returns to action on Wednesday when it heads to Colby-Sawyer for a 7:00 p.m. start. 
 
Knotted 5-5 in the first set against Rhode Island College (1-3), the Panthers tallied 10-straight points, capped on a pair of service aces by Laney Sullivan. Later, a seven-point spurt secured the first set with a final score of 25-10. 
 
In the second stanza, the Panthers jumped out to a 7-2 lead with a trio of service aces from Katie Kraczkowsky. Rhode Island College cut the deficit to two (7-5), but that was as close as they would get as Middlebury cruised to the 25-8 win. 
 
The Panthers held their opponent to just seven points in the final frame to earn the win. 
 
Gabbie O'Toole led all players with 26 assists, while Corley Doyle had a match-high eight kills. Kraczkowsky recorded five service aces to go along with six digs, while Manya Kula dug out six balls for Middlebury. Eden Anthony recorded four kills for Rhode Island College, while Wynter Conlon had six digs. 
 
The Panthers carried their momentum from the first match of the day into their contest against Wheaton (6-1). Middlebury took the first and second sets by scores of 25-13 and 25-10. 
 
The Lyons responded in the third stanza, taking a 10-3 lead. The match was tied three times before a five-point spurt gave the Panthers a 20-17 edge. Wheaton knotted the match at 21-21, before tallying five of the next six points to pick up the 25-22 win. 
 
Middlebury answered in the fourth frame, easing to a 25-16 victory to close out the weekend. 
 
Maggie Wise tallied a match-high 20 kills, while O'Toole recorded 34 assists and Doyle had three block assists. Kelly Ferrero led all players with 21 digs, while Jane Nelson had 13 kills and 14 digs for the Panthers. The Lyons were led by 10 kills from Bailey Madrzyk and 11 digs from Ariana Rajaee and Zoe Franz.