Bates College's Angel Echipue and Ruby Lightbourn recorded eight kills apiece and the Bobcats swept the Hamilton College Continentals in three sets in a NESCAC match at Hamilton's Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Friday night.

The Continentals (7-7, 1-4 NESCAC) finished with 41 kills but also recorded 25 attack errors. The set scores were 25-18, 25-21 and 25-22. Hamilton tries again to return to the win column on Saturday, Oct. 12 when the Continentals host 5-13 Colby College at 2 p.m.

Giuliana Rankin '20 led all players with 18 kills and has 710 for her Hamilton career. Rankin is second in the conference with 3.43 kills per set and is third with 158 this fall. She had just five attack errors in 38 attempts and posted a .342 hitting percentage.

Deirdre Corrigan '23 filled the box score with 12 kills, 12 digs and two service aces for the Continentals. The double-double in kills and digs is her third this season. Emma Parkhurst '21 handed out a season-high 31 assists and Kendall Boxe '22 chipped in two blocks. Nikki Matsuoka '21 registered a match-high 21 digs and Kayla Self '21 added 11. Matsuoka – one of the top liberos in the NESCAC – is third with 5.26 digs per set and fifth with a total of 242.

Bates (11-5, 3-3) ended up with just eight attack errors and hit .248 as a team. Julia Panepinto was credited with 16 assists and Emma Eide passed out 11. Gabi Eustache led the Bobcats with 18 digs, Taylor Stafford-Smith had 13 and Lightbourn contributed 12. Delaney Mayfield was a force at the net with six blocks. Bates owned an 8-3 advantage in total blocks.

The Bobcats jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set and didn't allow Hamilton to get closer than two points. The Continentals were still within three at 13-10, but Bates put them away with six straight points. The run was highlighted by four kills from three different Bobcats.

Hamilton led once in the second set at 7-6 after a Bates ball-handling error. The Bobcats ran off the next three points and led the rest of the set. Bates never opened up more than a five-point advantage down the stretch, and Sydney Phillips closed out the set with one of her six kills.

The third set was close the whole way as there were 10 ties and four lead changes and the Bobcats' four-point lead at 22-18 was the biggest margin. The Continentals rallied to tie the score on a Bates service error, block assists by Corrigan and Boxe, a ball-handling error and a Corrigan kill. The Bobcats clinched the match on kills by Stafford-Smith and Olivia McCulloch and a Hamilton attack error.