NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke volleyball team fell 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 25-19, 18-25, 17-15) in a five-set battle at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Wednesday night, despite a match-high 20 kills by first-year outside hitter Madeline Barton.

After winning the first set, dropping the next two and then sending the match in a fifth set with a 25-18 win in the fourth set, Mount Holyoke (1-2) held its final lead of the clinching set at 7-6. An ace served up by Anais Badio tied it at 7-7, and MCLA moved ahead on an MHC attack error out coming of a timeout. The Lyons tied the set again at 8-8, 10-10, 12-12, 13-13, 14-14 and 15-15 before the host Trailblazers won it with a kill by Elizabeth Brown and a Lyons attack error.

Alternating between setting and hitting in the Lyons' 6-2 offense, senior Marion Abeja (Kumi, Uganda) had 29 assists to go with six kills, nine digs and four aces. First-year Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) had 23 assists, 16 digs and three kills in her first extensive action at setter.

Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) led Mount Holyoke (1-2) in kills for the third time in as many matches, racking up 20 against nine errors on 50 attempts (.220) while also collecting 18 digs. Senior McKenna Crosby (Jonesborough, Tenn.), senior Mar Simon (Miami, Fla.) and first-year Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) added 11 kills apiece, and sophomore libero Lucie Berclaz (Hull, Mass.) had a match-high 25 digs.

Four MCLA players had double-figure totals in digs, while Chloie Garber and Elizabeth Brown led the Trailblazers (3-1) with 11 kills each.

Mount Holyoke travels to Colby College in Waterville, Maine, this weekend for three non-conference matches: vs. Northern Vermont-Lyndon on Friday at 8pm, vs. Colby on Saturday at 10am, and vs. Cazenovia on Saturday at 12pm.