AMHERST, Mass. - The Bowdoin College women's volleyball team cruised to a convincing 3-0 win over Amherst in its NESCAC opener Friday evening.

The Polar Bears improve to 7-3 (1-0 NESCAC) this season with the 28-26, 25-17, 25-20 win. The Polar Bears will travel to play at Williams on Saturday at noon before taking on Western New England at 2:00 p.m.

Bowdoin survived a lengthy opening set, staving off a set point (at 25-26) before rallying for the final three points, capped by a Katie Doherty kill, to take a 28-26 win. The Polar Bears closed the second set on an 8-1 run to take a 25-17 win. Bowdoin never trailed in the third set, jumping to a 12-5 lead into an eventual 25-20 victory.

First-years carried the day for the Polar Bears, as Erika Sklaver (13 kills) and Doherty (10 kills, nine digs) led the offensive attack. Emese Gaal had nine kills and 17 digs while Quincy Leech dished out 42 assists.