ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Ursinus won the third set from Muhlenberg on Wednesday night, but, the Bears (12-12, 3-7) lost the fourth set 25-22 in a 3-1 loss to the Mules in Centennial Conference volleyball play. 

Despite the loss, Ursinus finished with its best record since the 1999 season. Set scores were 25-22, 25-19, 18-25 and 25-22.

The Bears were led by senior Elizabeth Roth (York, Pa./Dallastown Area) who had a match-high 17 kills, with senior outside hitter Kim Goldberg (Sarasota, Fla./Out of Door Academy) chipping in with 13. 

Freshman setter Gina Powers (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) had 21 assists, while Roth had 16.

Defensively, freshman libero Leah Masiello (New Castle, Del./St. Ellzabeth's) had 26 digs, Powers had 19 and Goldberg had 13. 

In the first set, Ursinus raced out to a 6-2 lead, as Roth had a kill, Masiello had a service ace and Goldberg had a kill on an assist Powers.

Leading 8-4, Muhlenberg scored five straight points to take a 9-8 lead before a kill from sophomore middle blocker Anahi McIntyre (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) tied the score at 9-all. Muhlenberg took the lead for good in the first set on back-to-back kills to go up 11-9. 

In the second set, it was Ursinus' turn to rally as the Bears came back from a 9-2 deficit to tie the score at 13-ll. Once again, back-to-back points by Muhlenberg gave the Mules the lead and they took the second set 25-19.

The third set was all Bears, as Ursinus went out to a 6-1 lead, and never trailed the entire way. The Bears went up by as much as ten at 23-13 on a kill from Roth as Ursinus scored nine straight points. 

In the fourth and final set, Ursinus went out to an 8-4 lead on an attack error, and had a 13-5 lead on a service ace by Roth. Muhlenberg then rallied to get within 14-12, but, Ursinus went back up 17-13 on an ace by junior right side Erica Dickey (Camp Hill, Pa./Trinity).

After Muhlenberg took the lead, Ursinus battled to within one at 23-22, before the Mules took the final two points of the set.