BALTIMORE, Md. - The Ursinus College volleyball team tested itself with a daunting tri-match at Johns Hopkins on Saturday, dropping a pair of matches against the top-ranked Blue Jays and a strong Washington and Lee squad.
The Bears (4-10, 1-3) lost 25-14, 25-14, 25-13 to No. 1 Johns Hopkins before conceding a 25-10, 25-13, 25-8 decision to the Generals. The Bears' opponents for the day are a combined 34-5.
The Blue Jays (19-0, 5-0) have lost only six sets all season, but Ursinus came in unintimidated and grabbed a quick 4-1 lead. Katie Cressman sandwiched kills around a Hopkins point to give the Bears an 8-6 lead, and Ursinus forced a Hopkins timeout after a kill by Haley Spotts and a Blue Jays error put the visitors on top, 12-11.
The stoppage proved well-timed for Hopkins, which ran off the next six points and closed the set on a 14-2 run.
Ursinus held a 5-4 lead in the second set and was as tight as 14-11 midway through before the Blue Jays pulled away. The Bears won the first point of the third and were down just 5-4 early, but Hopkins made its run in the middle of the set and moved ahead for the sweep.
Spotts had six kills to lead Ursinus in the opener.
The Generals (15-5) hit .360 for the match and made only seven errors in the second contest, leaving the Bears little margin for error. Cressman finished with six kills and six digs, while Luca Walborn had 10 digs and five assists. Rachel Bernard matched her opening tally with 13 assists and added eight digs.
Ursinus resumes Centennial Conference play Wednesday at Bryn Mawr.