SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's volleyball team settled for a split of two matches at its first home tri-match of the season on Saturday afternoon at the Viniar Athletic Center. The Dutchwomen defeated Manhattanville College by a 3-1 score, then suffered a tough 3-2 loss to Middlebury College to close out the day.
 
Union 3, Manhattanville 1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-12, 25-8)
 
Union started slowly in the first match of the day, dropping the opening set to Manhattanville before finding its rhythm offensively and cruising to win the final three frames.

Junior Gillian Gore led Union with a game-high 14 kills and also added 14 digs for her third straight double-double, while classmate Katie Moss put down 11 of her 22 kills for a stellar .455 hitting percentage. Moss and classmate Julia Louis both led all players with four blocks apiece as well, part of the team's seven total blocks.
 
Junior Sage Shimamoto led the offense with 39 assists and just missed a double-double with nine digs to go with four kills. Sophomore Jessica Siragusa added a team-best 16 digs as well.
 
Union started slow in the first set, hitting .043 and allowing the Valiants to take the first frame. But the Dutchwomen heated up considerably after that, hitting .451 with 42 kills on 78 attempts over the final three frames. Union did not make one error on its 29 attempts while hitting .483 in the third set, then followed up by hitting an even .500 with 14 kills on 24 swings in the fourth frame.
 
Middlebury 3, Union 2 (21-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-13, 15-9)
 
Union looked to be on the way to a weekend sweep after taking the first two sets from Middlebury, but the Panthers stormed back to take the final three frames and deal the Dutchwomen their first loss of the season.
 
Gore led all players with 18 kills and added a team-best 22 digs and five service aces. Moss added four more blocks and was one of three Dutchwomen with nine kills, joining classmates Steph Libonati and Lara Atalay. Shimamoto added a double-double of 44 assists and 10 digs as well for the home team.
 
Union hit the ball well over the first two sets, putting down a combined 32 kills in taking a 2-0 lead. But the attack slowed down the rest of the way, as the Dutchwomen recorded just 18 kills over the final three stanzas.
 
Union will remain at home on Wednesday when the team hosts Springfield College beginning at 7 p.m. at the Viniar Athletic Center.