MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Amherst College volleyball team split their weekend series at Pepin Gym, suffering their first loss of the season in a nail-biter to Middlebury, 3-2, on Saturday, before bouncing back with a big 3-0 sweep of Brandeis University a day later.

The result moves the Mammoths to 6-1 on the fall and to 2-1 in conference play. Amherst returns to the court this Saturday, October 2 when they host Trinity College in a 2:00pm bout at LeFrak Gymnasium.

MATCH ONE: Middlebury 3, Amherst 2

• A tightly contested battle saw the home team come out on top, 25-20, 17-25, 25-17, 23-25, 15-13.
• The Panthers owned a slight edge in points (71-67), kills (59-57), and aces (7-5), while Amherst held a 95-92 advantage in digs and owned the better attack percentage (.184 to .155). Both sides dished out 53 assists in the matchup and posted five blocks.
• Jamie Dailey '22 led all players with 21 kills in the match, while Alex Rone '23 notched a game-leading four blocks. Sophomore Carly Cooper's 44 assists were a contest-high, while Lizzie Papalia '25 led Amherst with 24 digs.

MATCH TWO: Amherst 3, Brandeis 0

• Amherst powered past Brandeis on day two action with a 25-14, 25-19, 25-14 victory.
• Holding a 11-7 edge midway through the opening set, the Mammoths rattled off six unanswered points to take a comfortable 17-8 lead and ensure the 25-14 win.
• The second set proved to be more of a back-and-forth battle, with the sides staying within three points until the final stretch. A ball handling error by Amherst and a Stephanie Borr kill gave the Judges a 19-18 lead as they looked to tie things at one all, but the Mammoths kicked it into another gear to post seven straight points via three kills and four attack errors to clinch the 25-19 victory.
• The third and final set was much like the first as the two sides traded points until a 6-2 Amherst run saw what was a one-pint match swell to 17-12 in favor of the Mammoths. Keeping control, Amherst used four kills, an ace, and three Brandeis attack errors to close out the match, 25-14.
• With a contest-high 17 kills, Dailey led the Mammoths' offense, while Sophie Launsbach '22 and Caroline Tilton '23 chipped in 15 and eight kills, respectively. Cooper's 30 assists stood as a match-high, while Papalia led Amherst with 12 digs on the day.
• Owning a .272 attack percentage in the match, the Mammoths boasted a 44-26 advantage in kills, 39-24 edge in assists, and slight 50-47 advantage in digs.