LEWISTON, Maine – Bates College volleyball took the first set but dropped the next three to Bowdoin College falling 3-1 (19-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-21) in the team's home opener inside Alumni Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

The Bobcats (6-7, 0-3 NESCAC) used a balanced offense and an effective defense to challenge the Polar Bears (9-4, 2-1) throughout the night, but the visitors found a diverse number of ways to gain points and prevailed in the match.

Sophomore Abby Leberman (Concord, N.H.) paced the Bates attack with 10 kills to go with three block assists and three aces. Classmates Brynn Wendel (Boxford, Mass.) and Mary Deneen (Windsor, Conn.) followed closely with nine and seven kills respectively. First-year Nicole Peraica (East Northport, N.Y.) landed six kills on a team-high .333 hitting percentage.

Junior captains Miranda Shapiro (New York, N.Y.) and Tess Walther (Santa Monica, Calif.) continued to work as a tag team at the setter spot with Shapiro tallying her third double-double of the season on 18 assists and 11 digs and Walther contributing 12 assists and nine digs. Defensively, sophomore libero Laryssa Schepel (Flemington, N.J.) posted a team-best 17 digs.

The two teams competed evenly throughout much of the first set. With the score tied at 14-14, the Bobcats used a 6-3 run to take a 22-17 advantage with Leberman knocking down two kills and a block assist and Shapiro dishing out four assists during that stretch. The Bobcats won the last four points of the set including two aces from sophomore Nicole Cueli (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.).

In set two, the Polar Bears jumped out to a 12-6 edge and never held a lead smaller than three points throughout the remainder of the set. The Bobcats responded at the outset of the third set, staking a 9-3 advantage which contained Leberman's three aces. Bowdoin worked its way back into the game, eventually tying the set at 14-14 and outscoring the hosts 11-6 over the duration of the set.

Bates held a lead as late as 19-18 in set four and remained within one point at 21-20, but the Polar Bears captured seven of the last nine points.

Next, Bates hosts Colby Sawyer College on Friday at 8 p.m. as a part of the Mid-Coast Classic.