NEW LONDON, N.H. – September 1, 2015 – The Colby-Sawyer College women's volleyball team won the season opener against Lasell 3-1, but fell in the day's next two matches to Babson, 3-1 and Brandeis, 3-2.

The Chargers will head west for four matches at Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont, California beginning on Friday evening.

Colby-Sawyer 3, Lasell 1 – 25-19, 25-27, 25-20, 29-27

The senior duo of Kelsey McCulley (Southampton, N.Y.) and Kelsey Sullivan (Laconia, N.H.) carried the Chargers in the first match with 14 and 11 kills, respectively. McCulley hit .242 and added 10 digs.

In her collegiate debut, freshman Gabrielle Ratte (Hula, Hawaii) recorded seven kills, 10 digs and three blocks. Fellow freshman Courtney Murray (Quincy, Mass.) was third on the team with nine kills.

Babson 3, Colby-Sawyer 1 – 25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 25-20

In a rematch of last year's NCAA Tournament First Round, the Beavers held off the Chargers 3-1 to improve to 2-0 on the season.

The Beavers took the opening set 25-18, but the Chargers came back with a strong 25-16 victory to even the match. Babson again won by 25-18 in the third and closed the match with a hard fought 25-20 fourth set win.

Each team struggled offensively and at the service line combining for 27 errors. Gabrielle Ratte led the Chargers with eight kills, while sophomore Lexi Strong (Somersworth, N.H.) recorded a match best 25 digs.

Brandeis 3, Colby-Sawyer 2 – 21-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 15-7

In the day's final match, the Judges and Chargers battled to a two-hour five set finish.

Colby-Sawyer held a slim 18-17 lead in the first set before ending on a 7-4 run capped by a Courtney Murray kill.

Brandeis responded with a 25-18 win in the second set, which featured 10 ties and eight lead changes, thanks to a five-kill performance from freshman Shea Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Calif.).

Each team recorded 13 kills in the third set, but the Chargers used a slightly better hitting percentage to come away with a slim 25-23 win.

Trailing 2-1 in the match, the Judges cruised to a fourth set win with a balanced offensive attack, while holding the Colby-Sawyer offense in check with eight block assists.

Brandeis carried the momentum into the final set and raced out to a 6-0 lead. The deficit was too much for the Chargers to overcome as the visitors took the fifth set 15-7 and the match 3-2.

Decker-Jacoby led Brandeis with 10 kills. Freshman Leah Pearlman (El Paso, Texas) filled the stat sheet with 20 assists, six kills (.455%), five aces and nine digs. Senior Maddie Engeler (Huron, Ohio) added eight kills and five block assists.

Colby-Sawyer was led by the Kelsey duo once again. McCulley had 15 kills with 16 digs, while Sullivan added 10 kills.

Senior Laura Smolinski (Hebron, Conn.) finished with a double-double of 32 assists, to give her 97 on the day, and 17 digs.