LEWISTON, Maine -- Returning to the scene of Friday evening's epic victory vs. Amherst, Bates College avoided any sort of letdown Saturday afternoon as the Bobcats handled Hamilton College, 3-1, to move to a perfect 2-0 in NESCAC play.

The garnet-and-white, winners of its first two conference contests for the first time since 2015, sent off the Continentals with scores of 25-18, 21-25, 25-15, 25-20.

With the score tied at 17-17 in the first set, the Bobcats grabbed eight of the frame's final nine points to secure the 25-18 win. An 8-0 run in the heart of the second stanza helped carry Hamilton (3-6, 0-2 NESCAC) to the second game win. 

Streaks proved to be abundant in set three as Bates used separate spurts of 4-0, 6-0, and 4-0 to grab a 25-15 victory and a two-sets-to-one advantage in the match. Trailing in the fourth by a score of 20-18, the Bobcats again showed their mettle by calmly closing the contest with an impressive 7-0 sprint to wrap up the triumph.

Ami Evans, for the second-straight outing, put together a double-double performance as the junior floored a career-high 20 kills to go along with 21 digs. Nora Gilmer, a first-year from Fairfax, Va., landed 14 kills in her 2024 debut for the Bobcats while Katie Kortekaas added her second-consecutive showing of 11 kills.

Skye Higashihara, who now ranks second in the NESCAC with 9.54 assists-per-set, dished a season-high 51 helpers in the win. The first-year also put down seven kills and four service aces on the day. Sami Kim authored  a personal-best in digs for the second day in a row, this time settling 23 for the 6-2 Bobcats.

Bates gets a much-needed breather as the squad does not return to action until Friday evening when the Bobcats welcome Tufts to campus for a 7:00 p.m. match.