LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College volleyball team took a set from Franklin & Marshall for the first time in five years and won the first two games against Marywood, but came home from Saturday's tri-match in Lancaster with a pair of losses.
Junior Kelly Piotrowicz reached 1,000 assists for her career for the Bears (7-14), who dropped a 3-1 Centennial Conference decision to the first-place Diplomats before the Pacers denied them a split of the day's action with a big comeback.
Franklin & Marshall 3, Ursinus 1 (21-25, 25-15, 25-9, 25-5)
The Bears stole the first set from Centennial Conference-leading Franklin & Marshall (15-5, 6-0) but dropped the next three sets in the match. It was Ursinus' first set won against the Diplomats since 2013.
Ursinus was locked into a tight first set which included 11 kills for the Bears on .276 hitting in the frame. The Bears were strong on the service line, registering four aces in the 25-21 triumph. Junior Miranda Foster and Piotrowicz were crucial to the set victory. Foster registered five kills and Piotrowicz added nine assists in the frame.
The Bears took the last two points in the set courtesy of a kill by Foster, assisted by Piotrowicz, and sophomore Grace Sullivan's ace.
Foster led the Bears with seven kills, while Piotrowicz had a team-high 16 assists and 14 digs.
Franklin & Marshall, the lone unbeaten in CC competition, came back to cruise through the remaining three sets (25-15, 25-9, 25-5). The Diplomats swung efficiently, hitting .376 in the match. Several Franklin & Marshall players had great matches. Grace Maggiore registered a whopping 32 assists, collected seven kills on 10 swings, and contributed a team-high 14 digs.
Grace Polisano had a team-best nine kills. Allison Franke added six aces. Delaney Hahn and Carly Ostrowski each recorded 12 digs. Casey Morrow had team-leading six blocks.
Marywood 3, Ursinus 2 (20-25, 23-25, 25-14, 25-17, 15-4)
Piotrowicz was sensational for Ursinus in the non-conference nightcap, handing out 20 assists to eclipse 1,000 for her career. She also had 13 digs and five kills without an error.
Freshman Olivia DeBonte was an effective net option for the Bears, posting a team-high nine kills and adding ten digs. Sullivan finished with a team-high 19 digs, with Foster and Harris chipping in six kills each.
The Bears host Muhlenberg Wednesday at 7 p.m.