COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus women's volleyball team was downed in straight sets (22-25, 14-25, 17-25) to Gettysburg on Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference action.
With the loss, the Bears fall to 8-15 overall and 3-7 in Centennial Conference action as they conclude their 2021 regular season. Meanwhile, the Bullets improved to 14-8 overall and 6-4 in conference action.
Junior Katie Cressman led the Bears with a team-high 11 kills and added seven digs in the contest. Sophomore Haley Spotts posted eight kills while first-year Rachel Bernard paced the Bears offense with a game-high 21 assists. Junior Luca Walborn led the defense with a team-high nine digs in the loss.
The teams traded points throughout the first portion of the first set as neither team was able to get more than a one point lead until the Bullets went up 9-7. The Bears won three of the next four points to take an 11-10 advantage before Gettysburg responded by taking four of the next five points to go back up 14-12. Up 18-16, the Bullets won five of the next seven points to go up 23-18. Ursinus made a late charge by winning four of the next five points to pull within two points at 24-22. However, the Bullets slammed the door on a rally with a kill to win the first set.
Gettysburg started strong in the second set as they jumped out to a 6-2 lead after taking advantage of four errors from the Bears. The Bullets won five of the next six points after Ursinus earned a point off a ball handling error to go up 11-4 in the second set. The Bears were able to pull within five points of the Bullets at 14-9, but Gettysburg responded with four points to take an 18-10 lead. Gettysburg was able to main a comfortable lead to close the second set, and capped the second set with four-straight points to take a two sets to none lead.
Ursinus came out red-hot in the third set as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead behind four kills. Gettysburg rallied by winning eight of the next 10 points to take an early 9-8 advantage over the Bears. A rally from the Bears put them back ahead at 12-11 after winning five of the next seven points, but they were unable to sustain as the Bullets took control by winning nine of the next 10 points to take a 21-13 lead. Ursinus once again made a late rally buy winning three-straight points to cut the lead down to 24-17 before Gettysburg closed the match out with a kill.
Zanze Kuba-McCoy led the Bullets with a game-high 13 kills and nine digs while Cat Holtz posted 10 kills and a .693 hitting percentage. Sophie Nassir added a team-high 18 assists in the victory over the Bears.