NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - Husson dropped a pair of matches Saturday to Smith (Mass.) and Manhattanville (N.Y.) on the final day of the Smith Invitational. The Eagles lost 3-1 to Smith by scores of 14-25, 13-25, 26-24 and 9-25 and 3-0 to Manhattanville by scores of 12-25, 18-25 and 14-25.

In the first match of the day, Mei-Li Smith recorded 12 kills and Macarena Rojas served eight aces as Smith (2-4) defeated Husson (3-6) in four sets. 

The Pioneers jumped out early against Husson, blazing to a 25-14 opening set victory and following it with a 25-13 second set.  After the Eagles saved four match points to avoid the sweep by taking the third set 26-24, Smith responded with a 25-9 fourth set victory for their second win of the season.

Emma Plouffe paced the Husson attack registering six of the teams 22 kills on the afternoon. Kaitlyn Woods and Lindsay Chapman each added four kills apiece for the Eagles and setter Marissa Johnson dished out a match-high eleven assists.

On the defensive end, the Eagles were led by Kaitlyn Carl with 14 digs, while Chapman chipped in with 12 digs and Woods added ten of her own.  Bailey Cote led the way for Husson with two solo blocks and a quartet of Eagles added one block assist apiece.

In addition to her eight aces, Rojas led the Pioneers attack with nine assists and was second on the team with nine kills.  Xela Miller had four kills of her own, and Jullie Voorhes had 13 digs and added four service aces. Jenna Rubin controlled the net defensively for the Pioneers with five blocks, three solo and two assisted. 

In the second match of the day, Manhattanville (6-1) used 15 aces to defeat the Eagles in three sets in the first ever match-up between the two schools.

Plouffe and Woods once again led the Eagles' attack with four kills, as Cote chipped in with three kills of her own and one solo block. Johnson recorded the lone ace for Husson, to go along with her team-high 9 assists. Carl had a team-high 12 digs on the defensive end.

Meagan Dattoma and Kerry Mackey led the Valiant attack with eight kills apiece, with Mackey doing so with a .467 hitting percentage as well. Laura LiVolsi was nearly perfect with seven kills on 10 attempts (.700 hitting), while Andrea Baez-Berrios chipped in a match-high 15 assists.

Cote and Woods were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Eagles return to the court on Sunday Sept. 13, when they travel to Biddeford, Maine to play the Nor'easters of University of New England for the first time since 2005.