NEW LONDON, N.H.- The Dean College Bulldogs women's volleyball team's season came to a close on Monday night when they fell in a five set thriller to Colby-Sawyer in the play-in round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament. 

Dean took the opening set, 25-20. Tied at 11, the Bulldogs outscored the Chargers 14-9 down the stretch, punctuated with a kill by Caitlin Cooper (Amherst, N.H.) on the final point, to take the early lead. Colby-Sawyer stormed right back, however, taking the next game to even the score at one a piece with a 25-20 win in which they scored the final six points. In set three the Bulldogs regained their momentum, taking a tightly contested game down to the wire, and scoring four of the last five, with a Chloe Demaio (Needham, Mass.) kill to end it, for a 25-23 win. The crucial fourth set was tied at 11 and again at 14 before Colby-Sawyer began to pull away. The hosts took a 22-16 lead and held on for a 25-18 victory that forced the final set. 

Dean fell behind early in the fifth set, trailing 5-1 and 8-3. Dean rallied, however, and a kill from Lauren Joy (Amherst, Mass.) trimmed the advantage to 12-10. The Chargers responded, scoring the final three points to take the set and the match and advance to the GNAC quarterfinals, ending the Bulldogs season. 

Demaio led Dean with nine kills and four blocks. Senior Janai Price (Providence, R.I.) closed out her career with a double-double (12 digs and 10 kills). First-year Maddy Seymour (Simsbury, Conn.) had seven kills and 11 digs, while Sophie Malone (Poughkeepsie, N,.Y.) and Skylar Raskevitz (Easthampton, Mass.) both added 11 digs, as well. Senior Anabella Driscoll (Plymouth, Mass.) closed out her record-setting career with 27 assists. 

Dean's (11-17 overall, 6-9 GNAC) 11 wins were the most for the program since 2018, and the appearance in the GNAC playoffs was the first in program history.