Middlebury, Vt. - The visiting Trinity College Bantams lost, 3-0, against the Middlebury College Panthers in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) volleyball action this evening at Pepin Gymnasium.  Trinity loses for the first time in four matches, falling to 7-7 overall and 0-3 in the NESCAC with conference foe Amherst up next tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Massachusetts.  Middlebury improves to 12-0 overall and 4-0 in the league.

Middlebury won the first set, 25-13, but the second set was close.  Trinity took its first lead of the match sparked by a kill from senior OH Hareena Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.) to make it ,10-8. Middlebury pulled even at 13-13 before gaining some breathing room and taking a 21-15 lead. A pair of kills by Johnson and Trinity sophomore Lola Craig (Los Angeles, Calif.) tied the match at 24-24. The set saw two more ties before a kill by Middlebury's Jane Nelson solidified the 28-26 win.  Middlebury took a 9-2 lead early in the third set, but Trinity chipped away at the deficit, cutting the lead to 9-7. The Panthers responded and never looked back on their way to the 25-15 triumph.  Craig recorded a team-high six kills for the Bantams, while Johnson and fellow senior Natalia Ortiz (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) each had 11 digs.