NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Bowdoin College women's volleyball team's hopes of repeating as conference champions came to an end on Saturday as the Polar Bears fell to Middlebury in the NESCAC Semifinals, 3-2.

The Polar Bears dropped the five-set heart breaker by set scores of 21-25, 25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 15-6.

Winners of eight of their past nine outings, the surging Panthers (21-6) will be seeking their fourth NESCAC Crown when they face the top seeded Camels tomorrow at noon. The Polar Bears fall to 26-4 with the setback and are likely to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when selections are announced on Monday.

Christy Jewett had 19 kills, five digs and three blocks for Bowdoin. Melissa Haskell chipped in with 14 kills and 20 digs. Tory Edelman and Emese Gaal both saw double-figures with 11 kills while Sophia Cornew dished out 54 assists to go with 19 digs in the loss.