HENNIKER, N.H. – The Castleton University women's volleyball team forced a fourth set on Thursday night, but ultimately fell by a fina score of 3-1 to New England College in a non-conference battle between former North Atlantic Conference foes.
 
The Pilgrims (9-4) continue their stellar start to the season, while Castleton falls to 3-6 overall on the year following the Pilgrims' 25-11, 25-17, 20-25, 25-17 win. NEC held a 43-28 edge in kills, a 20-6 edge in aces and a 44-33 edge in total digs in the match. The Pilgrims also hit .255 as a team while Castleton swung at a .105 clip.
 
Hailey Martinovich led Castleton with eight kills, while Vanessa LeBrun added seven. Martinovich also had two aces and five digs. Cailin Moskow led the Spartans with eight digs defensively, and Bre MacDuff had a team-high 16 assists.
 
Amber Thi racked up 17 kills for NEC, followed by Shirita Wimberly's eight and Samantha Vargas's seven. Kenzie Barron had a team-high seven digs, five aces and 20 digs while Wimberly added four aces.
 
The Spartans are back in action Saturday at noon at Rhode Island College.