S. HADLEY, MA - The Amherst College volleyball team played its longest match of the season Thursday night and narrowly escaped with a 3-2 victory at non-league foe Mt. Holyoke College. With the win - in which game scores were 28-30, 30-10, 30-21, 27-30 and 15-12 - Amherst improved to 9-2 on the season heading into this weekend's Amherst Invitational Tournament.

The Jeffs' leading hitter - senior co-captain Erica Hewes (Pebble Beach, CA) - paced the Jeffs with a match-high 15 kills, while junior Erin Dittus (Brentwood, TN) and sophomore Jessica Allen (Chagrin Falls, OH) added eight and seven kills, respectively. Meanwhile, sophomore middle blockers Lauren Wong (San Francisco, CA) and Natalie Brooks (Catonsville, MD) combined for 15 blocks up front, and setters Meredith DeMeules (Los Angeles, CA) and Annie Hoeksma (Los Angeles, CA) finished with 12 kills, 41 assists and four aces, collectively.

On Friday, the Jeffs will host Westfield State at 5 p.m. and Eastern Connecticut State at 7 p.m. as part of the four-team Amherst Invitational. Amherst will also take on Coast Guard as part of a four-match tournament slate, Saturday at 1 p.m.