The Middlebury volleyball team wrapped up its regular season with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Hamilton on Saturday from Pepin Gymnasium. The contest was the final regular-season match for both programs.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers came out firing in the opening set. Six different players tallied kills early on, including two from Ava Tuccio, to build a 10-6 edge.
• Hamilton responded after a timeout, grabbing six of the next eight points, to knot the contest at 12-12. 
• The cat and mouse game continued until the 21-21 mark. Molly Harrison and Gabby Pribisich rattled off back-to-back kills to put the Panthers ahead 23-21. Middlebury kept the momentum, as Pribisich sealed the 25-22 opener with her fourth successful attack of the frame.
• After splitting the first 10 points of the second stanza, the Continentals went on a run. Caitlin Allen and Kathryn Fox combined for three blocks as part of a 6-1 surge to make it an 11-6 score.
• The visitors continued to hold the lead until the 14-10 mark. A Hamilton service error paired with eight kills between the trio of Lillian Caldwell, Harrison and Pribisich highlighted nine of the next 11 points for Middlebury to jump in front with a 19-16 lead.
• The Continentals trimmed the deficit to 23-22 before Harrison and Pribisich went back-to-back on successful swings to secure the two-point victory in the second.
• Middlebury and Hamilton traded the lead to open the third with neither side gaining an advantage larger than three until a kill by Fox and two Panther attack errors pushed the visitors ahead by four (17-13). 
• The Panthers immediately took momentum back. Successful attacks by Pribisich and Molly MacDonald bookended a 5-1 jolt to push Middlebury to a 19-18 edge.
• Neither side gave an inch toward the end of the set, needing extra points to determine the victor. Hamilton surged on, as Grace Seaman finished the frame with a kill to grab the 29-27 triumph and pushed the match to a fourth stanza.
• Behind 9-8 in the fourth, Tuccio sparked a 4-0 run to propel the Panthers to a 12-9 advantage.
• Middlebury held a multi-point lead until the 23-19 mark. A quick 3-0 run started by a kill by Ayzlinn Trefren trimmed the lead to one (23-22). 
• The hosts shut down any chance of a decisive fifth frame, grabbing the final two points needed via successful swings by Caldwell and Harrison for the 25-23 triumph and the four-set win.

NOTES

• Four different Panthers tallied double-digit kills in the triumph, headlined by Harrison's 45th career double-double (18 kills, 18 digs) and a season-high 13 successful swings by Caldwell. Harrison's 21 points are also a career best.
• MacDonald and Pribisich combined for 21 kills and seven blocks in the victory.
• Campbell Bartley dished out 46 helpers for her eighth match of 40 or more on the year.
• With her six block assists, Tuccio becomes the sixth player in program history to have 200 or more in a career.
• The Panthers earned their 24th victory in the series against the Continentals.

Middlebury has earned the sixth seed in the upcoming NESCAC Tournament and will travel to Massachusetts to meet third-seeded Williams in quarterfinal action on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.