Hamilton College's Erin Donahue '18 smashed 13 kills and the Continentals recorded a three-set victory against the Utica College Pioneers in non-conference volleyball action at Utica's Clark Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

Hamilton (11-5 overall) won its fifth straight match as the Continentals posted a season-best team hitting percentage of .290 and served nine aces to the Pioneers' two. The set scores were 25-14, 25-14 and 25-9. Hamilton extended its win streak against Utica to seven matches.

Donahue hit .440 with just two errors in 25 attempts. Courtney Brown '18, who finished with 10 kills, was even better than Donahue with a .529 hitting percentage (10-1-17). Dorothy Poucher '21 chipped in eight kills and three blocks.

Kyndal Burdin '18 continued to run the Continentals' offense and help out on defense as she finished with 34 assists and 15 digs. Burdin has five double-doubles in assists and digs in the last six matches. Kayla Self '21 served a season-high five aces, Christine Zizzi '18 led the defense with 19 digs and Giuliana Rankin '20 contributed four blocks.

The Pioneers (7-18) registered just 14 kills and owned a .011 hitting percentage. Nicole Herringshaw paced Utica with five kills and three blocks, and Hannah Voss added 14 digs and two aces. Jessica Macheda and Marissa Faroni passed out five assists apiece.

Hamilton held a slim 6-5 edge in the first set when Donahue put down a kill and Self followed with three aces in a row. After a service error by Self, Brown gave the Continentals a 12-6 cushion with two consecutive kills. The Pioneers tried to cool off Hamilton by calling a timeout, but Poucher came back with yet another ace, and the Continentals led by at least three points the rest of the set.

Utica jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second set thanks to four Hamilton attack errors. The Continentals responded by scoring 11 of the next 13 points, including a Self ace that put Hamilton in the lead for good at 8-7. The Pioneers were still within a point at 9-8 after a Herringshaw kill. The Continentals came back with kills by Brown, Poucher and Margaret O'Brien '18, along with an ace by Poucher, and Hamilton led by no less than four the remainder of the set.

The score was tied at 4-4 in the third set and Utica was fighting to extend the match to a fourth. The Continentals put those hopes to rest by exploding for 11 straight points featuring three kills apiece for Poucher and Donahue. A Rankin kill on match point put Hamilton in the winners circle.

The Continentals are back in action this Friday, Oct. 20 against Wheaton (Mass.) College in the 2017 Volleyball Hall of Fame Induction Tournament at Amherst College at 5 p.m.