The Hamilton College volleyball team took down the Amherst College Mammoths in a five-set NESCAC match at Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Friday night.

The Continentals (9-5, 5-3 NESCAC) dropped the first set 25-21 but inched past Amherst in set two 25-23. The Mammoths came back to win the third set 25-19, but Hamilton won the fourth 25-20 and kept the momentum with a 15-9 deciding fifth set.

Hamilton had an 11-7 advantage in blocks and tallied eight service aces compared to four by Amherst as the Continentals recorded their first victory over the Mammoths since 1996.

Kyndal Burdin '18 dished out a career-high 55 assists to increase her career total to 1,880. Burdin moves up one slot in the program's record book, now having the second-most career assists in Hamilton volleyball history behind Sarah Tschampel '00 with 2,180. Burdin also notched her third double-double of the season by adding 15 digs.

Margaret O'Brien '18 made seven blocks to also move up one slot in the program's record book. O'Brien's 307 career blocks now places her third behind Christina Clark '97 and her 367 blocks.

Four Continentals recorded double-digit kills. Leading the attack was Erin Donahue '18 with 14 and Giuliana Rankin '20 with 13, both tying their season-bests. Dorothy Poucher '21 and Courtney Brown '18 smashed 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Poucher and Christine Zizzi '18 had three service aces apiece, and Zizzi also guided the defense with 22 digs. Meghan Wilkinson '19 had 17 digs and Kendall Searcy '20 picked up 16 digs.

Emily Kolsky and Daria Kim-Percy led the Mammoths with 17 kills apiece. Kim-Percy also added 27 digs. Claire Dennis recorded a match-high .435 hitting percentage (10-0-23) while adding four blocks, and Charlotte Duran had 62 assists.

After falling in the third set, the Continentals took control on their home court by building a 15-6 advantage in set four. Amherst closed the gap to get within three points but a Brown kill and solo block by O'Brien closed the set.

Hamilton continued their command in the fifth and conclusive set with a 5-1 early lead. Amherst went on a 4-1 run to cut the Hamilton advantage to 6-5 before Hamilton called a timeout. The Continentals regrouped and finished the set by outscoring the Mammoths 9-4 for their third straight victory.

The Continentals are back in NESCAC action on Saturday, Oct. 14 as they host Trinity (6-9, 0-7 NESCAC) at 1 p.m. in Margaret Bundy Scott Field House.