MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Skidmore College volleyball team battled with non-conference foe Middlebury, but fell in three sets (25-20, 25-17, 25-18) to the Panthers at the Pepin Gymnasium Wednesday night.
 
Skidmore falls to 13-8 on the season, while the Panthers improve to 13-3.
 
Both teams traded leads early in the first set. Skidmore pulled to a 13-11 lead, before Middlebury scored five straight points to take the 16-13 advantage. The Thoroughbreds tried to rally from a 24-18 deficit with two straight points, but a Panthers kill ended the first set at 25-20.
 
Middlebury took that momentum into the second set, pulling away midway through to take the set, 25-17. In the third, a block by Rachel Licata and Caite Canfield gave the Thoroughbreds a 7-5 lead, but the Panthers tallied three points in a row to take the 8-7 lead, never trailing as they slowly pulled away from Skidmore with the 25-18 win.
 
Katy Ehnstom led the Thoroughbreds with 12 kills and a .667 hitting percentage. Canfield added a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Kalle Fox also tallied double-digit digs with 10. Lauren Wolters finished with 33 assists to pace the Skidmore offense.
 
Isabel Sessions finished with 16 kills to lead Middlebury.
 
The Thoroughbreds will take a rare weekend off, returning home on Wednesday to face Plattsburgh in the Williamson Center at 7 p.m.