Babson Park, MA - The Northern Vermont University-Lyndon volleyball team faced a pair of stiff challenges at the Babson College Invitational Tournament on Saturday afternoon.  The Hornets, still in search of their first win through six matches, were swept, 3-0, by both Hamilton College and host Babson.  The Continentals improved to 2-1 on the season and the host Beavers remain unbeaten through seven matches.

Hamilton 3, NVU-Lyndon 0 (25-12, 25-5, 25-8)

Lyndon and Hamilton went back and forth in the early moments of the opening set, before the Continentals ran off six straight points to grab an 11-4 advantage.  Hamilton pulled away from there to take the set, then cruised through the next two sets to secure the win.

Kate Carman paced Hamilton with ten kills and Jo Dine recorded 16 assists.  Calysta Lohman (Seward, AK) and Kiana Jones (Wilbraham, MA) had three kills apiece for the Hornets, while Charlotte Morris (Middletown, DE) led Lyndon with four assists and seven digs.

Babson 3, NVU-Lyndon 0 (25-4, 25-11, 25-13)

In the tournament finale the Beavers, ranked #23 in the nation, proved to be too much for the Hornets.  Babson scored the first eight points of the match and jumped out to a 16-1 advantage on the way to taking the first set.  Lyndon started better in the second set, but a six-point Babson run gave the Beavers a 9-3 lead on the way to another comfortable win.  The third set followed the same pattern.  Lyndon grabbed an early 5-4 lead, but Babson ran off four straight points and gradually pulled away from there.

Erin Gray led Babson with 11 kills, with Lauren Griffin and Ashley Gold adding nine kills each.  Setter Ruby Reich recorded 25 assists.  Jones paced the Hornets with five kills and Morris posted six assists.  Lohman had a match high ten digs for Lyndon.

The Hornets will travel to Plymouth State University for another non-conference match on Tuesday.  First serve is scheduled for 6:00 pm.