Jacqueline Forney had 12 assists in Bates' 3-0 loss to Amherst on Oct. 11, 2014. (File photo by Sarah Crosby/Bates College)

LEWISTON, Maine -- Maggie Danner and Marialexa Natsis combined for 18 kills and only four attack errors, leading Amherst College to a 3-0 NESCAC victory over the Bates College volleyball team on Saturday in Alumni Gymnasium.

Bates (8-10, 0-6 NESCAC) sophomore Chandler McGrath (Seal Beach, Calif.) recorded the match's only double-double, with a match-high 12 kills to go with 11 digs, but no other Bates player had more than five putaways against Amherst's defense. Junior Laryssa Schepel (Flemington, N.J.) had a team-high 17 digs and first-year Augy Silver (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) added 12, while senior Tess Walther (Santa Monica, Calif.) and first-year Jacqueline Forney (Bloomington, Ind.) split setting duties for 14 and 12 assists, respectively.

Danner paced the Jeffs (14-4, 5-1 NESCAC) with 10 kills and Natsis added eight as Amherst won by set scores of 25-16, 25-13, 25-19. Nicole Carter had a match-high 19 assists, while Kate Bres added 12 assists and five aces. Katie Warshaw led all players with 20 digs, and Lauren Antion had four blocks. Amherst gained its sixth consecutive victory, three of them against NESCAC opponents. 

Bates had closed within two points in the first set, at 14-12, before a kill by Danner returned serve to Amherst's Bres. Bres served seven straight times, including four aces, as the Jeffs pulled away for a 22-13 lead. A Bates attack error finished the set.

After a kill by Bates junior Mary Deneen (Windsor, Conn.) narrowed Amherst's lead to 19-10 in the second set, a Bates service error followed by four kills in a row by the Jeffs, three of them by Danner, made it 24-10 in the Jeffs' favor. The second set also ended on a Bates attack error.

Amherst raised its attack percentage to a match-high .283 in the third set, with Natsis racking up four kills and Danner and Nicole Gould adding three apiece. McGrath had half of her kills in the final set, as Bates attacked at a team-best .140 percentage in the frame.

Bates plays its fifth NESCAC match in a row on Friday at 5pm at Bowdoin, to be followed immediately by a non-conference match against Lebanon Valley, also at Bowdoin.