COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College volleyball team (6-17, 0-8) fell in both games of their Saturday doubleheader. The Bears lost, 3-0, to No. 8 Johns Hopkins in their first match of the day before narrowly falling, 3-2, to Widener.
#8 Johns Hopkins 3, Ursinus 0 (25-14, 25-7, 25-17)
The Bears jumped out to an early 5-1 in the opening set, but the Blue Jays came back to take nine of the next ten points to go up 10-6 and didn't look back, winning the first set 25-14.
The Blue Jays took that momentum into the second set as a 14-0 run at 2-2 put them up 16-2 on their way taking the second, 25-7.
The Bears kept it close in the early goings of the third set, leading 9-8 after a kill from Luca Walborn. However, an 8-0 run put the Blue Jays in control on their way to winning the final set, 25-17.
Luca Walborn led the Bears while Grace Sullivan tallied 15 digs. Kelly Piotrowicz also added 12 digs of her own while leading the team with six kills.
Widener 3, Ursinus 2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-9)
After a loss to Johns Hopkins, the Bears had a quick turnaround before playing their second match of the day against Widener. Prior to the game, the volleyball program honored its senior class of 2020.
The Bears went up 3-2 in the opening set after a Widener error and didn't lose the lead again. Tied 4-4, kills from Miranda Foster and Kelly Piotrowicz put the Bears up, 7-4. A 7-2 run later in the set gave the Bears a 15-9 lead as they went on to take the opener, 25-21.
Ursinus kept it going in the second set, leading throughout. A 6-1 run sparked by a kill from Rachael Girard gave the Bears a 13-6 lead. Widener pulled back within one, but back-to-back kills from Katie Cressman kept the Bears in control as they won the second set 25-22.
However, the Pride came storming back. With the Bears leading 10-7, Widener went on a 6-3 run to tie the set at 13. The Pride led 19-16 in the third before taking six of the next nine points to force a fourth set.
The fourth set was close throughout with neither team taking more than a three-point lead. After 11 ties, it was the Pride who jumped ahead with a 6-0 run to go up 20-15. The Bears came back within one, but Widener took the set's final two points to even the match at two sets apiece.
Like the fourth set, the fifth went back-and-forth. After Widener took a 3-1 lead, it was the Bears who came back to tie the set, 3-3, before taking an 8-7 lead at the change of ends. After the teams changed sides, the Pride won eight of the final nine points as the Bears fell in a fifth set for the second time this season.
Piotrowicz led the Bears with a double-double, totally 16 kills to go with 19 digs. She is just six digs shy of totaling 1,000 in her career. Rachael Girard had a double-double of her own as she recorded 12 kills paired with a team-high 26 digs. The final double-double of the afternoon came at the hands of Luca Walborn who tallied a career-high 36 assists with 10 digs.
The Bears will play at Washington College and Bryn Mawr next week to close out the season.