LEWISTON, Maine — The Bates College volleyball team suffered its first loss of the 2026 season Friday night, falling 3-0 to Tufts University in NESCAC action at Underhill Arena.
The Jumbos (7-5, 1-1 NESCAC) earned the victory by scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-20, while Bates moved to 7-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Despite the sweep, the Bobcats hit .281 for the match and committed just 10 attack errors in 96 attempts. Tufts countered with a .333 hitting percentage, recording 47 kills against 14 errors.
Tufts established the early advantage in the opening set, taking a 10-5 lead before Bates began working its way back. The Bobcats pulled within 10-9 behind an
Alice Fischer service ace and consecutive kills from
Kate Norry and
Malina Young. Bates remained within two at 17-15 and again at 18-16, but Tufts created separation with a 4-1 run that pushed its advantage to 22-17. The Jumbos went on to close out the set, 25-19.
Bates responded with its strongest sustained stretch of the night in the second. Trailing 8-5, the Bobcats reeled off five consecutive points, with Norry contributing a kill and
Sofia Castiglioni and Young adding kills to put Bates in front, 10-8.
The Bobcats later extended the lead to 14-11 and held a 15-13 advantage before Tufts battled back. From there, neither team led by more than a point until the Jumbos broke a 20-20 tie by scoring the final five points of the set. Tufts used two kills, a service ace and a pair of Bates attack errors to take the frame, 25-20, and a 2-0 match lead.
Bates again pushed Tufts throughout the third set. The Bobcats erased an early 7-4 deficit with four straight points, including back-to-back blocks from
Nora Gilmer and Castiglioni followed by a Gilmer kill, to move ahead 8-7.
After Tufts regained the advantage, Bates answered again. A
Lauren Croom kill evened the score at 12, and the Bobcats later turned a 14-13 deficit into a 17-14 lead. Norry tied the set with a kill before Bates scored the next three points, capped by an
Anaïs Reneaum kill.
Bates still led 19-17 following another Norry kill, but Tufts produced the decisive response. The Jumbos scored six straight points to take a 23-19 advantage and eventually secured the match with another 25-20 victory.
Norry led the Bates attack with eight kills on 18 attempts while hitting .333. Gilmer finished with six kills without an error on 13 swings for a team-best .462 hitting percentage and added three block assists. Faris recorded six kills, while Young and Castiglioni contributed five apiece. Young also served two aces, and Castiglioni was part of four blocks.
Fischer handed out a team-high 15 assists to go with seven digs and an ace, while Croom added 10 assists. Logan Yogi paced the Bobcats with eight digs.
Claire Castor (Sr.) and Maiwenn Kamdje (Jr.) led Tufts with 11 kills apiece, with Castor hitting .360 and Kamdje .333. Celina Savage (Jr.) added nine kills on 19 swings with just one error for a .421 percentage. The Jumbos also held a 7-4 advantage in service aces.
The loss snapped Bates' season-opening seven-match winning streak. The Bobcats entered Friday at 7-0, their best start since opening the 2019 campaign with eight consecutive victories.
Bates hits the road Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. non-conference tilt at Maine Maritime Academy (3-8).
