LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates volleyball team played possibly its finest match in its season finale, nearly pulling off an upset against first-place Bowdoin before the rival Polar Bears prevailed 3-2 (25-17, 20-25, 20-25, 25-12, 15-10) Saturday afternoon in Alumni Gym.

Bowdoin (19-4, 9-1 NESCAC) held on to first place in the final New England Small College Athletic Conference standings with the win, earning hosting rights for next weekend's eight-team NESCAC Championship tournament. 

Bates (7-16, 2-8 NESCAC) finishes the season in 10th place in the NESCAC with a memorable Senior Day match for seniors Brettney Fuller (Temple, Texas), Sydney Phillips (Plainviille, Mass.) and Megan Seabury (Santa Barbara, Calif.). 

The Bobcats took a 2-1 lead with back-to-back 25-20 wins in the second and third sets, after Bowdoin had taken the first set 25-17. The Polar Bears neutralized Bates' attack in the fourth set to tie it up at 2-2, then came back from an 8-6 deficit in the fifth set, winning nine of the final 11 points for the victory.

Sophia Pahl led Bowdoin with 20 kills and 24 digs. Ella Haugen had 46 assists and 14 digs, while Jaida Hodge-Adams added seven kills, 23 digs and three aces. Cori Gray totaled 11 kills and seven of Bowdoin's 19 service aces.

First-year Alyssa Lowther (Wyckoff, N.J.) led Bates with 11 kills and a season-high five blocks. Playing her finest match in her final match, Seabury posted career-highs in digs (30), assists (7), and aces (6). Junior Charlotte Morris (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) also had an outstanding performance for Bates, posting 10 kills against three attack errors (.189) to go with a career-high 15 digs. Morris also received 27 serves at a .963 success rate.

The opening set was 18-17 in Bowdoin's favor before the Polar Bears ran off seven points in a row, six of them served by Gray, to take the 1-0 lead in the match. Gray had three aces in the decisive run, including the final point. Pahl posted six kills in the set.

Bates answered in similar fashion in the second set, erasing a 20-17 Bowdoin lead by scoring the last eight points, seven of them served up by Seabury, who totaled three aces in the run. Junior setter Emma Eide (Ramsey, N.J.) scored Bates' 25th point with one of her six dumpoff kills in the match.

Bates attacked at a team-best .268 rate against Bowdoin's .140 in the third set as they grabbed a surprising 2-1 lead. The Bobcats turned a 16-14 deficit into a 21-17 lead with a key 7-1 run that featured two kills by Lowther, a kill by Eide and a combined block by Eide and Lowther. First-year Julia Neumann (Norwell, Mass.) posted kills for Bates' 23rd and 24th points, and Phillips' kill clinched the set for the hosts.

Bowdoin scored 20 of the last 27 points in a fourth set featuring multiple lengthy rallies, winning the frame 25-12 despite a modest .188 attack percentage.

In the fifth set, Bates led 4-1 and then 8-6 after back-to-back kills by Lowther, prompting a Bowdoin timeout. The Polar Bears came out of the break with a kill by Gray, and Jenna Robbins served the next five points, getting two aces as well as kills from Pahl and Gray. Bates closed to within 11-10 with an Eide kill and an ace by Morris, but Bowdoin came up with the final four points to win the match, with a kill and an ace by Gray, followed by kills from Haugen and Pahl. Gray and Pahl had four kills apiece, accounting for most of Bowdoin's points in the set, while Hodge-Adams tallied six digs.