AMHERST, Mass. – Despite season-best performances from Chandler McGrath and Tess Walther, Bates College volleyball dropped two matches at the Amherst Tri-Match in LeFrak Gymnasium on Saturday.

The Bobcats (6-6, 0-2 NESCAC) fell in their second match of the day to Endicott (6-7) – 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 26-24, 25-17) – after dropping a 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-15) decision to Amherst (7-4, 1-1 NESCAC) earlier in the day.

In the team's finale against the Gulls, McGrath (Seal Beach, Calif.) notched a season-high 20 kills while Walther (Santa Monica, Calif.) dished out a season and match-best 44 assists, falling just one assist shy of her career high.

Also against Endicott, sophomore Abby Leberman (Concord, N.H.) landed 11 kills, classmates Laryssa Schepel (Flemington, N.J.) and Nicole Cueli (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) tallied 20 and 10 digs respectively, and first-year Hannah Tardie (Orange, Calif.) posted 11 digs of her own.

After dropping the first set to the Gulls, 25-16, the Bobcats jumped out to an early 10-4 lead in the second set and held on late to win, 25-23. In a tight third set in which neither side held an advantage larger than three points, Bates knotted the game at 24-24 before Endicott won the set's last two points. In the final set, the Gulls used an 8-3 run to close the match.

Earlier in the season, Bates beat Endicott 3-2 on Sept. 13 at the MIT Invitational. In that match, McGrath led the team with nine kills while Walther totaled 16 assists and 11 digs.

In the first match of the day against the Lord Jeffs, McGrath paced the Bobcats with eight kills. Also against Amherst, Walther had a team-high 14 assists, and Schepel had a squad-best eight digs.

Next, Bates plays its home opener against Bowdoin on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym.