CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Bates College volleyball team opened play at the MIT Invitational Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Bridgewater State College before dropping a 3-0 decision to the host MIT Engineers.

Bates outpaced Bridgewater State in its first match of the evening, taking the three sets by scores of 25-21, 25-23, and 27-25. Junior Liz Leberman (Concord, N.H.) led the Bobcats (4-6) with 10 kills and 5 digs. Junior Tess Dokus (Salem, Conn.) and first-year Olivia Schow (Costa Mesa, Calif.) added 7 kills and 2 aces apiece, with Schow coming up with 2 blocks as well. First-year Grace Haessler (Portland, Ore.) collected 31 assists.

In the nightcap against MIT, the host Engineers won the sets by scores of 22-25, 21-25 and 11-25.

Senior Beth Billington (St. Paul, Minn.) led the Bobcats with 6 kills and 3 blocks, while Haessler contributed 18 assists and 6 digs and junior Kira Kramlich (San Francisco, Calif.) came up with 9 digs.

Bates will play against Smith College in the Silver Bracket at the MIT Invitational on Saturday at 10 a.m.

STATS: Bates 3, Bridgewater State 0

STATS: MIT 3, Bates 0