Middlebury College

The Middlebury volleyball team went back and forth in Maine, outlasting Bowdoin for a 3-2 triumph on Friday evening.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers raced out to an 8-2 lead in the opening set, capped by a kill from Kinaree Eichner.
• The Polar Bears battled back. Skye LaMendola paced the hosts with four kills as part of a 13-5 jolt to take a 15-12 advantage.
• The sides traded points until the scoreboard read 17-17. Three Bowdoin miscues sparked five straight points to push the navy and white ahead (22-17) and force a stoppage.
• Middlebury held strong, as a kill by Molly MacDonald, paired with a Polar Bear attack error, sealed a 25-18 win. 
• The momentum rolled over early into the second frame for the visitors. MacDonald and Molly Harrison combined for seven successful swings to put the guests in front by a 12-5 score.
• Bowdoin chipped away at the deficit, as a kill from Hannah Woolley bookended five of the next seven points for the hosts and made it 14-10.
• The Panthers built their lead back up to nine (19-10) before the Polar Bears made one final push and cut the lead to five (24-19). Natalie Stanford silenced the comeback with a cross-court strike for a 25-19 triumph.
• Tied at 10-10 in the third stanza, a Nora Harapat ace and solo block sparked four of the next five tallies for the guests to build a 14-11 lead.
• Bowdoin called a timeout and reset. Anna Yeh found the floor and kicked off a 5-1 surge to knot the set at 16-16.
• The hosts moved ahead, tallying a 9-5 run to close the frame (25-21) and take a two sets to one edge.
• A cat-and-mouse game commenced the fourth frame with the squads splitting the first 16 points. The Polar Bears came alive immediately, tallying nine of the next 10 points to take a 16-9 advantage and prompt a Panther timeout. Tamara Gisiger led the surge with three kills.
• Bowdoin did not surrender the advantage, cruising to a 25-12 decision to move the match to a winner-take-all fifth set.
• The Polar Bears crafted a 4-1 advantage to commence the ultimate frame, but Middlebury flipped the script with seven of the next nine to gain an 8-6 edge. Stanford capped the run with a kill.
• Zoe Ryu provided a spark for the hosts with three successful swings to knot the stanza at 11-11. 
• The Panthers gained control at the key moment. Consecutive kills from MacDonald and Harrison paired with two Bowdoin miscues slipped a 4-1 burst to snatch the set (15-12) and five-frame marathon.

NOTES

• MacDonald led the charge with a career-high 15 kills alongside a .387 hitting percentage.
• Harrison tallied 13 kills and 13 digs, marking her 75th match with double-digit kills in a Middlebury uniform. Stanford closed out the three with 13 successful swings.
• Annabella Rando logged 21 digs for her seventh match with 20 or more this season.
• Chloe Cunniffe (23) and Eichner (15) combined for 38 of Middlebury's 48 assists as a unit.
• The Panthers notched their fourth win in their last five matches against the Polar Bears.

Middlebury closes its trip to Maine with a battle against #6 Colby on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.