AMHERST, Mass. -- The Smith College volleyball team fell 3-2 to hosts Amherst College in nonconference play on Wednesday night. The Pioneers drop to 0-4 on the season while the Mammoths improve to 1-0. 

Highlights

• Tied at 6-6 in the first set, Smith pulled away with a 9-2 run to take the lead 15-8
• Amherst claimed the next four points until the Pioneers delivered a six-point run bringing them to a 21-12 advantage
• The Mammoths attempted to reduce the margin with a 6-1 run but Smith claimed the first set 25-18
• During the second set the teams exchanged points with neither team posting more than three consecutive points
• With the Pioneers ahead a point at 22-21, Amherst registered a four-point run to win the second set 25-22
• The Mammoths jumped out to an early 13-5 lead after an unanswered eight-point run
• The two teams traded points until the Pioneers closed the gap with a five-point run to a 23-20 deficit 
• Amherst claimed the final two points winning the set 25-20
• In the fourth set Smith pulled away with an early 13-4 advantage
• The Mammoths reduced the margin to a 15-10 deficit until the Pioneers delivered an unanswered ten-point run to win the set 25-10 
• Amherst began the fifth set with an early 6-1 lead
• Maintaining a four-point minimum advantage over the Pioneers, the Mammoths finished the final set 15-6 claiming the 3-2 overall victory 

Notes

• Olivia Teske (Minneapolis, MN/South High Minneapolis) recorded the highest number of kills of the night for both teams, posting 12 kills and hitting .226
• Ruth Tullis (Edmond, OK/Oklahoma Christian School) led the Pioneer defense notching 21 digs while Sarah Dankovich (El Paso, TX/Coronado) and Abby Hunt (Mandeville, LA/Fontainebleau) tallied 12 apiece
• Meg Hopkins (Matthews, NC/Covenant Day School) added 21 assists and 15 digs while Nathalie Pak (Lexington, MA/Lexington) totaled 15 assists 
• This is the first time since 2005 that the Pioneers won at least two sets against Amherst, beating the Mammoths 3-1 back in 2005

Up Next
The Pioneers will host the Bonnie May Invitational on Friday, September 8 and Saturday, September 9. The first match for Smith will be at 5pm on Friday against Lasell.

About Smith Athletics: Smith College is a NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log on to smithpioneers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.