BIDDEFORD, Maine — For the second straight match, the Bates College women's volleyball team found itself down two sets. And for the second straight match, the Bobcats found a way back.
Bates fought off four match points in a dramatic third set before completing a 3-2 comeback victory over the University of New England on Tuesday night, prevailing 22-25, 23-25, 28-26, 25-20, 15-9 to improve to 5-0 on the season.
The victory marked the third five-set win of the young season for Bates and snapped a run of three consecutive five-set losses to UNE. The last four meetings between the Bobcats and Nor'easters have all gone the distance.
Elle Faris (Jr.) led a balanced Bates attack with 16 kills while hitting .341 and added 14 digs.
Sofia Castiglioni (Sr.) and
Malina Young (Jr.) recorded 12 kills apiece, with Castiglioni committing no attack errors on 22 swings to hit .545.
Nora Gilmer (Jr.) added nine kills, while
Anaïs Reneaum (Jr.) contributed six.
Bates finished with 68 kills to UNE's 55 and held a 12-8 advantage in service aces. The Bobcats also recorded 81 digs in the five-set battle.
UNE took the opening set 25-22 after Bates held a 16-14 advantage midway through the frame. The second set followed a similarly tight script. Bates rallied from a 19-15 deficit to take a 23-22 lead, but the Nor'easters answered with the final three points to win 25-23 and move within a set of the victory.
The Bobcats appeared to be in control of the third when they built a 17-12 advantage, but UNE battled back, eventually taking a 24-22 lead and earning its first two match points.
Jaime Bartley-Cohen (So.) answered with a kill and Gilmer followed with another to pull Bates even at 24-24.
UNE twice more moved within a point of the match at 25-24 and 26-25, and both times Faris answered with a kill. With the score tied at 26, Faris struck again to give Bates its first set point before
Jordan Blackburn (So.) put away the winner for a 28-26 victory that extended the match.
Bates carried the momentum into the fourth. Trailing 13-11, the Bobcats scored four straight points to move ahead 15-13, then broke the set open with another surge
. Alice Fischer (Fy.) served a pair of aces as Bates turned the two-point deficit into a 20-14 advantage. Young eventually delivered the set-clinching kill for a 25-20 victory and forced a fifth.
The Bobcats built a 7-3 advantage in the deciding set before UNE responded with four straight points to tie the score. Bates answered emphatically. Reneaum broke the tie with a kill, Young followed with another and
Isabel Bettencourt (Sr.) served an ace for a 10-7 lead.
After the Nor'easters made it 11-9, Gilmer put down a kill and Castiglioni delivered consecutive kills to bring Bates to match point. A UNE attack error finished an 8-2 closing run and completed the comeback, 15-9.
Fischer filled the stat sheet with 23 assists, four kills on five attempts, four service aces and 13 digs.
Lauren Croom (Jr.) posted a team-high 31 assists and matched
Logan Yogi (Sr.) with 17 digs.
Bates looks to make it six-in-a-row to start the season Friday night when the Bobcats make their Underhill Arena debut vs. Nichols College. The home opener is slated to start at 6:00 p.m.
