Hartford, Conn. – The Trinity College volleyball team dropped its New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) opener on Friday evening, falling, 3-0, to Amherst inside Oosting Gymnasium. The Lord Jeffs won the match, 25-18, 28-26, 25-12, to improve to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in league tilts, while the Bantams lost their second straight to move to 6-3 on the year and 0-1 in conference action.

Trinity junior tri-captain Kate Giddens (Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif.) continued her impressive play registering a match-best 12 kills and added eight digs and a trio of aces to combine. Amherst was paced offensively by sophomore outside hitter Maggie Danner (Newport Beach, Calif.) and classmate Nicole Gould (Los Angeles, Calif.) who each had 11 kills. Junior setter Nicole Carter (Irvine, Calif.) had a match-high 13 assists for the Lord Jeffs, while junior Gina Buzzelli (Cheshire, Conn.) added 12 for the Bantams.

Defensively, both squads combined for three team blocks apiece. Junior defense specialist Katie Warshaw (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) had 19 digs for Amherst, while Trinity junior tri-captain Hunter Drews (Clifton Park, Mass.) had a team-leading nine digs.

In the first game, the two squads traded points early before Amherst went on a run to build an 18-10 advantage. Following a Trinity timeout, the conference foes swapped the next 10 points as Amherst maintained its eight-point edge at 23-15. The Bantams battled back scoring three straight points thanks to a trio of kills before the Lord Jeffs closed out the game with an ace from sophomore Kate Bres (Houston, Texas).

In the second game, the teams swapped the first 28 points before Amherst went on a 3-1 run to hold an 18-15 lead. The Bantams would rally with first-year Grace Metry (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.) at the service line battling back to knot the score at 19 all. After surrendering three straight points and trailing, 22-19, the Bantams once again fought back to eventually tie the game 24. With Giddens serving, Trinity took a 25-24 after an Amherst attack error. With their backs against the wall, junior outside hitter Lizzi Ahern (Corte Madera, Calif.) delivered a kill to tie the game at 25. Drews gave the Bantams a 26-25 lead with a kill and once against Ahern had a kill to tie the game. After a Gould kill gave Amherst the one-point advantage, Carter put the game away with a kill of her own.

In the third game Amherst closed out Trinity by jumping off to a 7-0 lead and never looking back.   

Trinity returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 20, with two contests hosting NESCAC rival Williams at noon before squaring off with Endicott in non-conference action at 4:00