AMHERST, Mass. -- For the first time in 21 years, the Amherst College volleyball team was taken to five sets by crosstown rival Smith College, but it was the Mammoths who ultimately walked away with the victory, controlling the fifth and deciding set from the outset to finish off an 18-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-25, 15-6 win in their season opener on Hixon Court in the LeFrak Gymnasium  Wednesday night. 

Amherst (1-0) heads to New York City, where on Friday night it will face Babson as part of NYU's Violet Volleyball Weekend. The match begins at 7 p.m.

Charlotte Rasmussen led the Mammoths with 11 kills. 

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:

* After watching Smith score the final 10 points of the fourth set to pull out a match-extending 25-15 win, the Mammoths wasted no time taking control of the winner-takes-the-match fifth set, building a 3-0 lead that forced the Pioneers to take a quick timeout. Carly Cooper got things started with a service ace for the set's first point and a Rasmussen block kill made it 3-0. It was soon 6-1 after a series of Pioneer errors lengthened the Amherst lead. 

* Cooper then set up Rasmussen for another forceful kill and a 7-2 lead. After a Smith point, liber Lizzie Papalia came up with a great dig to keep play alive, ultimately leading to a beautiful Rasmussen kill down the line for an 8-3 advantage. The teams switch courts but not momentum as a Renee Liou serve led to a Smith hitting error. Liou followed that with her second service ace of the match for a 10-3 lead. Bailey Reed came through with a block kill for an 11-3 lead and it was all but over. 

* A kill by first-year Chideraa Ngwadom made it 13-6 before Kinsey Cronin, ended the match by blocking an attack with help from teammate Anya Thomas and then forcing a bad set at the net to clinch the 15-6 victory.

* The Mammoths won back-to-back sets to take a 2-1 lead after falling in the first set, 25-18, taking the final three points of the second set to take the tightly contested set, 25-22. First-year Bailey Reed had a service ace that gave the Mammoths a 23-22 lead. Chloe Chanren and Ngwadom then teamed up for a crucial block which made it 24-22. A Ngwadom kill off a set from Papalia ended the match in Amherst's favor. 

* Amherst then took a 2-1 lead with a 25-20 lead in set three. The Mammoths led by eight late in the match but had to withstand a Smith rally and hold on as the Pioneers climbed within three points at 23-20 before first-year Allie McLaughlin came through with a kill that was followed by thunderous Anaya Thomas kill set up by Papalia that closed out the win. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* The Mammoths had 90 digs in the victory, with five players reaching double figures. Papalia led the way with 31 digs, while Katelyn Hamasaki had 11 and Cooper, Reid and Thomas notched 10 each.

* Reid finished with 7 kills, 10 digs, 3 aces and 3 block assists in her first collegiate match. Classmate Ngwadom also had 7 kills and added 3 kills and 2 block assists. 

* Cronin had 6 kills, 5 digs, and 4 block assists while Thomas finished with 6 kills and 10 digs.