COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Despite a valiant effort in the third set, the Ursinus College volleyball was handed a 3-0 sweep at the hands of Franklin & Marshall in Centennial Conference action on Saturday.
Senior Allison Raff had five of her match-high 12 kills in the final frame for Ursinus (5-13, 0-5), which staved off two match points before succumbing to 25-17, 25-9, 25-7 decision.
Franklin & Marshall (12-6, 4-1) hit .253 and controlled the net to the tune of three solo blocks and a dozen assisted rejections. Grace Maggiore finished with 30 assists and 11 digs in addition to six kills, while Cassie Garison had six blocks.
Down 12-8 in the third, Ursinus reeled off five consecutive points to take a 13-12 lead on a kill by sophomore Miranda Foster. The Diplomats ran off the next three, but Foster produced back-to-back drop shot kills before an error made it 16-15 in favor of the Bears.
From there, the teams engaged in a wild see-saw battle in which neither led by more than one point until the match-clinching kill. Raff kept Ursinus alive with kills at 23-24 and 24-25, but Casey Morrow's blast set up match point for the Diplomats, who ended it with a block.
Senior Taylor McCartney produced 12 digs in her first career start at libero, while sophomore Kelly Piotrowicz chipped in 11 assists and seven digs.
Raff recorded double-digit kills for the fifth time this season.
The volleyball team resumes CC play at Muhlenberg on Wednesday.