NEW LONDON, N.H. – September 27, 2016 – The Colby-Sawyer College women's volleyball team fell to Middlebury, 3-0 in non-conference action on Tuesday evening. Middlebury won by scores of 25-14, 25-13 and 25-10.

Middlebury improves to 7-3 and will travel to Connecticut College on Friday for an 8 p.m. first serve. Colby-Sawyer drops to 3-13 and will open North Atlantic Conference (NAC) play this weekend in Castine, Maine with matches beginning on Friday against Maine Maritime and continuing on Saturday against Johnson State and Lyndon.

The Panthers raced out to a 7-1 lead in the first set behind three kills and an ace from junior Becca Raffel (Palo Alto, Calif.). The Chargers pulled within five twice in the set thanks to three kills from sophomore Courtney Murray (Quincy, Mass.), but Middlebury pulled away and ended the first on a kill from freshman Chellsa Ferdinand (Queens, N.Y.).

The second set was closely contested and was tied 10-10 after a Naarah Cox (Boston, Mass.) kill pulled the Chargers even. Middlebury scored three straight until another Cox kill stopped the run. Leading 13-11, the Panthers used a 12-2 capped by an Isabel Sessions (Chicago, Ill.) kill to secure the second set victory. Colby-Sawyer senior Gabrielle Rodriguez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) had a set-high four kills on .667 hitting.

Middlebury took early command of the third set after jumping out to a 10-2 advantage and never looked back to come away with the 3-0 win.   

The Panthers were led by a match best 10 kills from Becca Raffel on .400 hitting. She added eight digs. Sophomore Sarah Staver (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) hit .600 to finish with six kills. Chellsa Ferdinand registered 18 assists, six digs and a match-high four aces.

Colby-Sawyer was led by a nine-kill effort from Courtney Murray. Rodriguez finished with six kills, while Cox hit .375 and had four kills. Freshman Morgan Flynn (Reading, Mass.) collected a match best 12 digs. 

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