WATERVILLE, Maine -- First-year Alyssa Lowther and senior Sydney Phillips paced the Bates volleyball team in kills in a 3-1 (19-25, 26-24, 23-25, 16-25) loss at Colby Friday night in NESCAC action. 

Lowther (Wyckoff, N.J.) led the way with 13 kills and four blocks (one solo). Phillips (Plainville, Mass.) added 10 kills and four blocks for the Bobcats (2-6, 0-3 NESCAC). Junior Emma Eide (Ramsey, N.J.) dished out a match-high 34 assists and first-year Kate Hansen (Menlo Park, Calif.) recorded a match-high 22 digs.

Junior Catie Sanchez (Pasadena, Calif.) tied the first set at seven with one of her two service aces on the night. But the Mules (5-2, 1-2 NESCAC) scored three unanswered to take the lead for good. A service error stopped the run but Colby immediately scored the next points to go up 17-8. The Mules held on from there to take the first set 25-19.

Bates pulled off a big rally to win the second set. Down 24-21, the Bobcats cut the Mule lead to 24-23 thanks to back-to-back attack errors. Lowther tied things up with a kill and another Colby attack error put the Bobcats up by one. Junior Charlotte Morris (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) clinched the 26-24 win with a kill set up by Eide. 

The Bobcats grabbed an 18-17 lead in the third set thanks to a 4-0 run that featured kills by Phillips and Eide. But the Mules answered with a 5-0 run to take the lead for good, eventually winning the set 25-23. 

The Mules clinched the match with a strong fourth set where they never trailed, winning 25-16. 

Colby's Hannah Wyllie led all the players with 16 kills.

Bates is back in action Saturday with a pair of non-conference matches. The Bobcats travel to Saint Joseph's College of Maine to take on the Monks at 11am and Albertus Magnus at 1pm.