LEWISTON, Maine -- Williams College pulled away from a 1-1 tie with dominating third and fourth sets en route to a 3-1 (27-25, 21-25, 25-12, 25-14) NESCAC victory over the Bates College volleyball team on Saturday afternoon in Alumni Gym.

Lydia Kurtz had 19 kills on 36 attempts (.389) to lead the Ephs (11-1, 5-1 NESCAC) to their third straight conference win. Marit Hoyem (13 kills, .455 attack percentage) and Christina Conforti (12 kills, .355) gave Williams a formidable attack. Celia Adams added eight kills for the Ephs. Allison Frison had a team-high 18 digs and Lauren Kauppila passed out 44 assists to go with 12 digs. 

Bates (5-10, 1-6 NESCAC) first-year Alyssa Lowther (Wyckoff, N.J.) had a team-high 14 kills to go with three blocks, while first-year Kate Hansen (Menlo Park, Calif.) had a big match with 19 digs and six service aces. Junior Emma Eide (Ramsey, N.J.) had 24 assists and three kills, and Sydney Phillips posted five kills, four blocks and three aces.

Bates led for much of the first set, which featured 12 ties and six lead changes. Bates trailed 12-9 but later led 20-14, with three straight points on kills by first-year Katie Kortekaas (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Lowther and an ace by Phillips. Bates led 24-23 with a solo block by Phillips, but a kill by Kurtz and a block by Tazmin Appiah and Olivia Hindy gave the Ephs a 25-24 lead. A kill by Lowther tied it at 25-25, before a kill by Hindy and a Bates attack error ended the set with Williams on top 27-25. Kurtz had eight kills in the set for Williams, while Lowther had six for Bates.

Hansen served first in the second set and stayed there until a service error gave Williams its first point, trailing 8-1. Hansen had two aces in the run, and Phillips, Lowther and junior Charlotte Morris (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) all had kills. Williams gradually closed the gap to within three points (23-20 and 24-21) but an attack error closed out the set with the sides tied at 1-1. Hoyem had seven kills in the set for Williams, but Bates hit at a .231 percentage with multiple kills from Lowther, Eide, Phillips and Kortekaas.

Hansen again helped Bates get an early lead with her serving in the third set, with an ace to go with a Lowther kill and a team block by Lowther and Eide leading to a 4-1 Bates lead. Alicia Blanco came on to serve for Williams with the score tied 7-7, and she tallied two aces in a decisive 9-0 Williams run, which featured three kills by Conforti and two by Hoyem, as the Ephs ran away to a 25-12 set win. Hoyem had seven kills in the set as Williams attacked at a match-best .448 percentage.

The Ephs kept up their strong play as they closed out the match, hitting at a .300 percentage and limiting Bates to -.133. Conforti led the way for Williams with three kills and a solo block in the set.

Bates will next play a non-conference match at Springfield College on Friday, Oct. 15 at 7pm.