By CAM DONALDSON
Sports Editor
 

You heard it from us first: Bates Volleyball (4-1) is the must-see team of the fall season. Last weekend, they served up three wins over NYU, Trinity and Wesleyan to capture the Trinity Invitational Championship and followed that performance with a commanding 3-0 squelching of UMF (2-1). At Trinity, Kate Hagstrom (107 assists) and Carly Dell'Ova '00 were All-Tournament selections and Amanda Colby '00 (42 kills) packed heavy gear on the front line. The hard-driving, spike-slamming action comes to Alumni Gym this Friday and Saturday for the Bates Round Robin (6:00 Fri, 10:00 a.m. Sat)...Women's Soccer (1-1) came out firing on all cylinders against Norwich (2-3) last weekend, trampling them in a 2-1 affair in which Bates outshot the visiting team by a 28-6 margin. Junior Kate O'Malley's 28th and 29th career goals were all the `Cats would need to school the Cadets. Last Wednesday, however, O'Malley and her teammates failed to find net, losing 2-0 to Wellesley (2-0), the 10th-ranked team in New England. They take on Middlebury this Saturday at 12:00...Men's Soccer (1-0) was sharp in their opener against UMF (1-1) last Wednesday, scoring six goals in a game for the first time since 1996 and allowing a paltry four shots, with only one of those finding the back of the net. Andy Apstein '00 chewed turf in this one, collecting his first career hat trick, while Eric Trickett '99 added three helpers. They face Middlebury on Saturday at 1:00...Bowdoin played their customary role of spoiling a landmark occasion for Bates by shutting down the Field Hockey team in last week's action by a score of 3-0 in new coach Wynn Hohlt's first game behind the bench. Bates came out strong, but could not keep the momentum from shifting in favor of the Polar Bears at crunch time. The Middlebury game starts at 1:00 on Saturday.