Northampton, Mass. – The Trinity College volleyball team fought hard, but fell to Springfield, 3-0, on Friday evening in non-conference action in the first day of the Hall of Fame Tournament inside Smith College's Scott Gymnasium. With the loss, the Bantams have dropped five straight to move to 11-9 overall, while the Pride won their third in a row to improve to 18-8 on the year. Springfield won by the scores of 25-23, 25-17, and 25-20.

The Pride opened up the match on a 6-1 run, only to have the Bantams rally to take a 17-16 advantage in the first game.  However, Springfield was able to answer and take the first set, 25-23. Springfield continued its strong play in the second set, gaining a 13-6 cushion.  Elise Brogan and Kelsey McGayhey capped off the frame with a block to give the Pride the 25-17 win. With the score knotted at 16 in the third game, The Pride reeled off five of the final six points of the match for the 25-20 victory.

Offensively, the Bantams were led by first-year outside hitter Claudia Varner (Port Washington, N.Y.) and junior tri-captain Hunter Drews (Clifton Park, N.Y.) with nine kills apiece. Junior tri-captain Kate Giddens (Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif.) added eight kills for Trinity and sophomore setter Randi Whitham (South Weymouth, Mass.) registered 14 assists. On the defensive end, Giddens had 12 digs and Whitham had 10 of her own, while junior middle hitter Katie Stueber (Darien, Conn.) had a team-leading four total blocks (2bs, 2ba).

Trinity concludes the two-day event with a pair of contests tomorrow, Oct. 25, taking on Williams at 10:00 a.m. and Bridgewater State at 2:00 p.m.