The Middlebury volleyball team rolled in Saturday's match against Trinity, earning a 3-0 win inside Pepin Gymnasium. During the third set,
Molly Harrison became the program's all-time leader in kills.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Tied at 10-10 in the opening set, Harrison thumped the floor to kickstart a 3-0 Panther spurt. The Bantams responded with seven of the ensuing nine points, capped by a Bella Nash service ace, to build a 17-15 lead.
- Sophie Horn and Gabby Pribisich posted kills across a 4-1 stint to retake a one-point advantage at 19-18. Stanford registered successful swings on three of the final five points to buoy a 6-4 sequence and lock down a 25-22 decision in the opener.
- Annabella Rando opened the second stanza at the service line, recording an ace on the first point to spark six consecutive tallies for the hosts.
- Trinity penned a prompt response with six of the next seven points and diced the margin to 7-6. Chloe Gentile and Trinity Fore each put up a kill in the run.
- The conference foes jockeyed for position over the middle portion of the frame. Fore and Emma Ewart headlined a 15-14 Bantam break with three putaways each. When the dust settled, the sides found themselves in a 21-21 deadlock.
- The navy and white put their stamp on the stanza's final five points, using a service ace from Nora Harapat and kills from Ella Beebe and Molly MacDonald to close out the 25-22 win.
- Knotted at 3-3 in the decisive third, Middlebury tallied a 7-1 swing to build a 10-4 advantage. Four different Panthers found the floor in the stretch, including consecutive strikes from Natalie Stanford and Pribisich.
- After two Trinity tallies, Harrison opened and closed a 5-0 swing with a kill on each end for a 15-6 cushion.
- The navy and white breezed through the remainder of the frame, stacking 10 tallies against the Bantams' eight to pick up a 25-14 set decision and a sweep.
NOTES
- Harrison surpassed Middlebury Athletics Hall of Famer Leslie Edwards '00 in career kills with 1,335 and counting. She finished with 13 accurate attacks and swung .400 in the match.
- Stanford matched Harrison's match-high 13 kills and added nine digs.
- Chloe Cunniffe tallied 34 assists and chipped in seven digs.
- The teams squared off for the 38th time, with the Panthers owning a 30-8 edge and extending their winning streak over the Bantams to 15 in a row.
Middlebury has secured the fourth seed for the upcoming NESCAC Tournament and will host fifth-seeded Williams next Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Stay tuned for a full preview of the quarterfinal round in the coming days.
