Chandler McGrath tallied a team-high 11 kills to lead the Bates volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18) victory over Worcester State Saturday afternoon. (File photo by Josh Kuckens/Bates College)

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Bates women's volleyball team took down Worcester State University by a score of 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18) in their first match on Saturday but fell 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-20, 25-19) to Clark University later in the afternoon in a pair of non-conference matches.

Bates 3, Worcester State 0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18)

Senior captain Chandler McGrath tallied 11 kills, junior captain Jacqueline Forney added a match-high 29 assists and first-year Gabi Eustache contributed a match-high 26 digs to lead the Bates women's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18) victory over Worcester State Saturday afternoon.

Bates didn't trail at all in the first or second set against the Lancers (11-16), jumping out to a 6-0 lead right off the bat in set one behind four straight service aces from first-year Taylor Stafford-Smith (Calabasas, Calif.). 

The Lancers got to within two at 7-5 but never got any closer in the first set. Sophomore Reilly Murphy (Marshfield, Mass.) ended a mini 4-1 run for the Lancers with a kill to extend the lead to 8-5.

That started a 9-1 run for the Bobcats, led by three Lisa Slivken '18 (New York, N.Y.) kills and two Lauren Brough '19 (Killingworth, Conn.) service aces. 

Up 16-6, Bates kept the Lancers at arm's length the rest of the set, winning 25-17.

McGrath (Seal Beach, Calif.) got the second set off to a strong start with a pair of kills. The Lancers tied it up a couple times in the early-going, evening the set at 11-11 on a Bates attack error.

The Bobcats were able to go on a quick 4-0 run to extend the lead to 15-11 behind another McGrath kill, two straight service aces from Brough and a Slivken kill.

The Lancers didn't back down, cutting the Bates lead to 18-17 before the Bobcats finished the set on a 7-0 run to secure the 25-17 win. 

Worcester State took a brief 3-2 lead in the third set before the Bobcats took advantage of an attack error to even the set at three. That started a 6-0 run for the Bobcats, culminating in a Forney (Bloomington, Ind.) service ace. 

The set got tight late with the Lancers cutting the Bates lead to 17-16. But Stafford-Smith tallied a kill and Eustache (New York, N.Y.) chalked up a service ace to start a 5-0 run, extending the lead to 22-16.

McGrath's 11th kill of afternoon clinched the 25-18 third set win and the 3-0 sweep of the Lancers.

Clark University 3, Bates 1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-20, 25-19)

Marina Ramos led all players with 24 kills and the Clark University Cougars defeated the Bates volleyball team 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-20, 25-19) Saturday afternoon at Kneller Gymnasium.

The Cougars (19-7) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead against the Bobcats (8-13) and never trailed in the first set. Three kills from Murphy kept the Bobcats within reach at 9-5. But the Cougars went on a 5-0 run to take control of the set.

After dropping the first set 25-18, the Bobcats came roaring back in set number two.

Down 11-5, sophomore Claire Naughton (Darien, Conn.) started the rally with a kill. The Bobcats went on a 6-0 run to even things up. The run culminated with a Forney service ace.

With the set tied at 14 Bates went on a 7-0 run, starting with a Murphy kill, taking the lead for good. 

Slivken's kill clinched the 25-20 set two victory. She finished the match with a team-high 13 kills.

In the third set, a McGrath kill put the Bobcats up 17-16. But the Cougars rallied to take a 21-19 lead on a Ramos kill.

After a Slivken kill cut the deficit to one, the Cougars went on a 4-0 run to clinch the set thanks to four consecutive Bates errors.

Down two sets to one, Bates never led in the fourth set. Another Slivken kill evened the set at two but the Cougars went on a 5-0 run to take the lead for good, helped out by two Ana Mercado kills.

The Bobcats did pull to within three late in the fourth set on a kill by senior Nicole Peraica (East Northport, N.Y.), making the score 21-18.

However the Cougars closed on a 4-1 run, with a kill by Courtney Pharr clinching the match.

Bates is back in action Tuesday when they host Husson at 7:00 p.m.