NORTHFIELD, Vt.—The Norwich University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 non-conference decision to the Chargers of Colby-Sawyer College on Wednesday evening in the Andrews Hall gymnasium.

With the loss, the Cadets fall to 1-10 on the season, while the Chargers improve to 6-4 overall.

After dropping the first two sets 25-8 and 25-13, the Cadets battled the Chargers to a close third set. Norwich would stay within a point of Colby-Sawyer through most of the set but never claimed the lead. With a narrow 15-14 lead, Colby-Sawyer used a seven-serve run by Sarah Hannon (Pocasset, Mass.) to open a 21-16 gap.

Norwich responded with a rally of their own on a series of serves by Angie Hershberger (Felton, Calif.) to bring the score within three at 21-18, but the Chargers would open the score back up to 23-18 on kills by Emilee McBride (Strafford, N.H.) and Elizabeth Peabody (Northwood, N.H.). Norwich used a Chargers' service error and two attack errors to spark one final push, but the Chargers would prevail for the 25-21 victory.

The Chargers held Norwich to just 10 kills on the afternoon. Alex Palmer (South Windsor, Conn.) recorded three kills, while Tara Lyons (Pocasett, Mass.), Kelsey Mancini (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Corinne Baita (Rochester, N.H.) totaled two apiece. Baita dished out eight assists for the Cadets and led the team in digs with seven.

Colby-Sawyer saw a match-high nine kills from McBride. Courtney O'Hara (Mystic, Conn.) aided the team with seven kills, while Jackie Keating (Marshfield, Mass.) added five of the team's 36 kills. Laura Smolinski (Hebron, Conn.) dished out 33 assists for the team, while Hannon aided the offense with four service aces. Ally Le-Bruno (Medfield, Mass.) paced the defense with a match-high 14 kills.

Colby-Sawyer recorded 19 errors in 84 attempts to post a .202 hitting percentage. The Chargers forced Norwich into 20 errors in 74 attempts to post a negative attack percentage.

The Cadets are idle until next Saturday, September 28 when they open Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play in a tri-match at Mount Ida. Norwich will take on Simmons College at 12:00 p.m. and will face the hosts at 2:00 p.m.