Box Score SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – The 2010 Volleyball Hall of Fame Women's Invitational kicked off with eight matches this evening. A total of 16 teams are participating in the tournament, which is being hosted by Smith College and Mount Holyoke College.

Now in its 19th year, the tournament has been broken up into two eight team brackets. Prior to the beginning of the event, the teams were ranked based on their results thus far this season. The top eight teams are competing in the “Gold Bracket”, while the next eight are playing in the “Silver Bracket”.

In the Silver Bracket, eighth seeded Smith College took top seeded Westfield State University to the limit before falling 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 21-25, 25-21, 10-15).  Laurel Belton (San Bernardino, Calif./Aquinas) had a strong all around game, racking up 13 kills, 16 digs, a service ace, a pair of solo blocks, and two block assists.  Lauren Martinez (Phoenix, Ariz./Cortez) and Courtney Faria (Pocasset, Mass./Bourne) had 22 and 19 assists, respectively, and Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth) added another 15 kills, six digs, two solo blocks, and two block assists.

Second seeded WPI downed seventh seeded Gordon College 3-0, and third seeded Union handed sixth seeded Mount Holyoke a 3-0 setback. Meanwhile, fourth seeded Bridgewater State University held on for a 3-1 victory over fifth seeded Wheaton College.

Looking forward to tomorrow, Westfield State will face off against Bridgewater State, and WPI will take on Union in the winner's bracket contests. In the loser's bracket, Mount Holyoke will clash with Gordon, and Smith will meet Wheaton.

Top seeded Middlebury College, second seeded Amherst College, fourth seeded Tufts University and sixth seeded Bowdoin College all claimed victories in the Gold Bracket. Middlebury, which took home top honors in the Silver Bracket last fall, cruised to a 3-0 victory over eighth seeded MIT in its 2010 opener.

Meanwhile, Amherst pulled out a 3-1 win over seventh seeded Wellesley College after dropping its first set. Tufts also fell in its first set against fifth seeded Brandeis University before taking the next three to secure a 3-1 triumph. Bowdoin then closed out the night with an epic 3-2 triumph over third seeded Springfield College. After splitting the first two sets, the Polar Bears claimed an 18-16 win in the fifth. It was the lone upset of the day.

As a result of their victories this evening, Middlebury and Tufts will meet in the winner's bracket tomorrow. The other winner's bracket matchup will feature Amherst and Bowdoin. MIT will face off against Brandeis, and Wellesley will battle Springfield in the loser's bracket.

The tournament will conclude tomorrow with all 16 teams playing two matches apiece.