The Hamilton College Continentals lost to Wellesley College and Smith College in matches that were part of the 2021 International Volleyball Hall of Fame Tournament on Saturday.

Hamilton (6-11 overall) also had a match scheduled with Clark University at Smith on Friday afternoon, but Clark had a scheduling conflict with a conference opponent. The Continentals are at Amherst College for a NESCAC match on Friday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.

Hamilton vs. Wellesley

The set scores were 25-15, 25-19, 22-25, 21-25 and 15-10 in a match played at Amherst's LeFrak Gymnasium on Saturday morning. Wellesley (8-9) had a 54-43 advantage in kills and was credited with 69 digs to Hamilton's 51.

The Blue won the first two sets before the Continentals roared back with wins in the third and fourth, and the teams went to a fifth set. Neither team led by more than two points in the deciding set until Wellesley turned a 9-8 edge into a five-point cushion with a 4-0 run. Nicole Doerges started and finished the spurt with kills. Hamilton scored its last two points on service errors, and Doerges ended the match with her 31st kill.

Kate Carman '24 led the Continentals with 13 kills and Dierdre Corrigan '23 posted a double-double with 11 kills and a team-high 11 digs. Melissa Morelli '24 handed out 26 assists and led the defense with three blocks. Jo Dine '22 dished out 10 assists and Cece Nourie '25 contributed 10 digs.

Hamilton at Smith

The set scores were 22-25, 25-21, 25-27, 25-19 and 15-13 in a match played at Smith's Ainsworth Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers (20-7) held a slight 58-53 edge in kills and 84-74 in digs.

The teams alternated set victories until Smith took the fourth and the deciding fifth. Neither team led by more than two points until a 4-1 run took Smith to the brink of clinching the match at 14-10. Hamilton nearly tied it on a kill by Dine and a pair of solo blocks by Chiara Morley-McLaughlin '24. The Continentals served to draw even but instead Fiona Hegarty ended the set and the match with a kill.

Carman led the way again offensively with 18 kills and Corrigan recorded another double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs. Morelli had 38 assists and Nourie led all players with a season-high 21 digs. Corrigan, Morelli and Morley-McLaughlin served three aces each as Hamilton boasted a total of 12.