COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – After honoring Danielle Kenny, Sam Murphy, and Emily van Mulbregt on Senior Day, the Ursinus College volleyball team suffered 3-0 sweeps to both Johns Hopkins and Manhattanville on Saturday afternoon.
Ursinus (8-10, 1-6) had not taken a set off the Blue Jays since 2011 – and had won only eight total sets in the 23 all-time matchups entering Saturday – but the home side put a legitimate scare into the CC front-runners in the opening frame. The Bears twice got within a single point, first at 20-19 after a four-point service run by Van Mulbregt and again at 22-21 after an ace by freshman Lauren Novotny, but the Blue Jays evaded the threat with back-to-back kills and closed out a 25-22 nail-biter on a kill by Elizabeth Wuerstle.
After dropping the second set, 25-13, Ursinus took a 7-5 lead in the third. But Johns Hopkins (12-4, 6-0) ran off the next five points and never looked back.
Piotrowicz complemented 12 assists with a team-best nine kills and eight digs for Ursinus, and Raff put up eight kills and ten digs. Van Mulbregt handed out ten assists with five digs and a pair of service winners.
Khristi Read had a match-high 33 assists and ten digs for the Blue Jays, who got nine kills out of Ally Hirsch, eight from Wuerstle, and seven from Sasha Gorelik.
The Bears never found a foothold in a 25-18, 25-13, 25-18 setback to Manhattanville. Asia Reid (18) and Kerry Mackey (13) combined for 31 kills for the Valiants (10-6), who hit an efficient .323 for the match. Reid was unstoppable, racking up 18 kills to just two errors on 25 attacks for an incredible .640 hitting percentage, while Mackey had only one error in 29 attempts and hit .414.
Piotrowicz led Ursinus with 14 assists, ten digs, and eight kills, again coming close to a triple-double. Raff had seven kills and six digs, and Kenny chipped in ten digs.
For the day, van Mulbregt collected 18 assists, seven digs, and three aces; Kenny posted 14 digs; and Murphy had two kills and four digs.
The Bears have a week and a half off before their home finale, a date with Washington College on Wednesday, October 19.
