PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Norwich University women's volleyball team wrapped up its regular season with a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) losses to Colby-Sawyer College and Johnson and Wales (R.I.) University on Saturday afternoon.

The losses lower the Cadets' overall record to 15-11 and put their GNAC record at 7-5. Despite the losses, Norwich locked up a berth in the GNAC Volleyball Championship for the first time since 2014. The Cadets earn the sixth seed in the eight-team tournament and will travel to face off against the third-seeded Rivier on Tuesday, November 5 at 7:00 p.m.

Colby-Sawyer 3 Norwich 2 (25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 16-25, 7-15)

In the opening match of the day, Norwich competed in its third-consecutive five-set match. The Cadets jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but could not close out the victory surrendering three-straight sets to the Chargers.

The teams' offensive trajectories headed in opposite directions throughout the match. Norwich began strong and then struggled down the stretch, while Colby-Sawyer improved throughout posting their best offense in the game-deciding set.

Junior outside hitter Kathryn Farnum (North Andover, Mass.) notched 20 kills for the third match in a row to lead all hitters. She added 17 digs defensively in the loss. Senior outside hitter Michele Zummo (Highland, Mills, N.Y.) was the only other Cadet in double-figure kills with 17. Freshman setter Sarah Farnum (North Andover, Mass.) posted 41 assists while engineering the Cadet attack. Senior defensive specialist Brianna Dawson (Katonah, N.Y.) recorded a team-high 19 digs to put her in the top spot all-time for most digs in a season (349) passing Alex Ruediger '17 who totaled 337 in 2014.

The first set was a back-and-forth affair through to the final four points. A kill by the Chargers' Naarah Cox poised the Chargers for a first set win with a 21-18 lead, however, a K. Farnum kill combined with two miscues by the CSC attack tied the game at 21-21. After the Chargers took a 22-21 lead, the Cadets ran the table with four-straight points including a kill and two service aces from junior right-side hitter Julia Schroeder (Victorville, Calif.) to earn the first set victory.

The second set was very similar to the first with the teams trading points throughout. Norwich held a four-point advantage at 21-17 which served as the set's biggest lead. CSC managed to shave the deficit down to 22-21, but a pair of kills by K. Farnum and one by senior middle blocker Marissa Perrotti (Moultonborough, N.H.) helped clinch the win in the second set.

Colby-Sawyer's attack became much more efficient as the game progressed while Norwich struggled to maintain its early match efficiency. This resulted in the Chargers jumping out to large leads throughout the rest of the match needing only to continue to side out to keep the Cadets at bay.

Norwich faced deficits of eight points in sets three through five making any comeback a tall order.

Johnson & Wales 3 Norwich 0 (15-25, 13-25, 9-25)

Weary from their five-set match in the front end of the doubleheader, the Cadets ran into a tough Johnson & Wales team. Norwich had no answer for the Wildcats' offense as the hosts' attack succeeded at a .362 clip while holding the Cadets to a negative .049 success rate thanks to six blocks during the match.

Norwich received six kills from K. Farnum who hit an impressive .417. S. Farnum handed out 15 assists while directing the offense, while Dawson once again led the defense with 12 digs.