Northampton, Mass. - The Trinity College Bantams opened the 2013 Volleyball Hall of Fame Invitational with a 3-2 setback against the host Smith College Pioneers this evening.  Trinity falls to 13-9 and Smith improves to 17-7.  Smith took the opening set, 27-25, but Trinity rallied to take the next two, 25-22, and, 25-20.  The Bantams lost the fourth set, 25-16, and the deciding set, 15-12.  
 
Trinity senior tri-captain OH Hannah Brickley (Melrose, Mass.) led the Bantams with 25 kills and 29 digs, while senior tri-captain S Amy Hackett (Wallingford, Conn.) had 29 assists and three service aces, and sophomore MH Kate Giddens had 17 kills and 24 digs.  Mei-Li Smith had a triple double, posting 18 kills, 18 digs, and 15 assists, to go with a pair of service aces.  Kristi Hammond had 10 kills and 17 digs, and Rosa Drummond added another double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs.  
 
Trinity ran out to a 7-1 lead to start the match, but the Pioneers rallied to within 9-8 on Kristi Hammond's kill, but Trinity worked the lead back up to 15-9 on a kill by sophomore RS Hunter Drews (Clifton Park, N.Y.).  The Bantams maintained their lead at 22-19 two kills from Brickley, but Smith ended the set on a 8-6 run to take a 1-0 lead.  Trinity led from start to finish in set two, going up by as many as five at 18-13 on a Smith attack error, and closed out the the set on a kill by senior tri-captain L Sarah Whitham (South Weymouth, Mass.).  Trinity took the third set as well, coming back from an early 4-1 deficit for a 25-20 win.
 
The Pioneers scored the first seven points of the set and built a 19-7 lead.  A Smith attacking error got Trinity back within 20-14, but Smith pulled away again, scoring five of the final seven points of the set.  The deciding set was neck and neck, as Smith went up, 4-1, on a Trinity service error, only to see the Bantams go back up 7-5 on a kill by Brickley.  With the score tied at nine, Trinity got a kill from Giddens to take an 11-10 lead.  Smith rattled off four straight points, however, and Drummond finished off the match with her 11th kill of the day.