Boxscore

Lewiston, Maine - Emma Eide (Ramsey, N.J.) came to within one service ace of a triple-double, and Alyssa Lowther (Wyckoff, N.J.) landed a match-best 15 kills, as Bates College, in front of a healthy home crowd, showed plenty of panache in the Bobcats' 3-1 season-opening defeat of Husson University (1-2).

Behind eight first-set service aces from Eide, and a quartet of kills from Katie Kortekaas (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), the home team cruised to a 25-12 win in the opening frame. The Eagles answered back in the second stanza as the road team showed its mettle with a 25-22 triumph, tying the contest at 1-1.

With the garnet-and-white holding a slim 17-15 advantage late in the third, the Bobcats (1-0) turned on the jets by closing the set with an 8-2 run to go ahead 2-1 overall. Husson, refusing to concede, opened the fourth set with a healthy 5-0 surplus before extending its lead to 8-3 moments later. 

The Eagles' grasp slowly weakened as Bates countered with a 6-0 spurt of its own to take the lead for good at 16-10. Husson would cut the deficit to four, 23-19, but that would be as close as the Bobcats would permit its guest before shutting the door on the match with the last two points of the night.

Eide begins her junior campaign with 28 assists, nine service aces, and 11 digs, to go along with four kills. Lowther authored an efficient hitting percentage of .520 (25 attempts, two errors) in the thrilling victory. Julia Neumann (Norwell, Mass.) followed with nine kills. Ami Evans (Honolulu, Hawaii) landed seven kills and collected a team-best 12 digs in her collegiate debut. Kortekaas and Bella Lomet (Burbank, Calif.) added six kills apiece.

The Bobcats sit idle until Friday evening (6:00 p.m.) when Bates visits Babson College (Babson Park, Mass.) for a non-conference tilt.