Collegeville, Pa. – The Bryn Mawr volleyball squad found themselves facing an 0-2 deficit in tonight's match at Ursinus before making a tremendous rally to get back in the contest. Unfortunately, all those efforts were for naught, as the Bears hung on late to claim the victory in five sets and peg the Owls to their second conference loss of the season.

Bryn Mawr (9-8, 0-2 CC) managed to get out to an early 2-1 lead in the first set of the match, but it was Ursinus (11-5, 1-2 CC) who took control soon after. The Bears ran off seven straight points to get out to a 12-5 lead. The Owls would chip that deficit down to three after three straight errors from Ursinus, but that was as close as they would get. The hosts continued to pull away, and eventually a kill from Sam Murphy gave the Bears a 25-16 victory in the set. The second frame started similarly to the first, as Bryn Mawr earned the first point thanks to another Bears error. Once again, Ursinus quickly claimed the lead by going ahead 14-11. This time, however, Bryn Mawr staged a comeback. The Bears continued to struggle with errors, committing three straight to tie the game back up at 14-all. Ursinus climbed back in front with a six-point run, but Bryn Mawr responded by getting back within two, thanks in part to a kill from Rachel Ofili and an ace by Danielle Preziuso. The hosts scrambled back ahead, getting to set point at 24-19, but once again Bryn Mawr answered by forcing four more attack errors. However, it wouldn't be enough, as Ursinus won the next point to take the set in 25-23 fashion and claim a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Owls finally managed to put together a complete set in the third frame. After trading the opening few points back and forth, Bryn Mawr pulled away to a 15-11 lead thanks to a team effort, with multiple kills from Caroline Cosby, Ofili, Noemi Moreno, Sarah Gates and Avary Taylor. Ursinus rallied to take the next five points and a 16-15 advantage, but the Owls did not roll over. The squads continued to trade points until Bryn Mawr went on a crucial three-point run late in the set on Ursinus attack and service errors and an ace from Gates. Holding a 23-22 lead, the Owls closed things out on kills from Ofili and Moreno to take the third set and get back in the match.

With newfound momentum, Bryn Mawr trucked through the fourth set, starting with a six-point run to open things. Taylor got things started with a kill before Ofili and Preziuso got in on the action to give the Owls a big lead early. Ursinus simply was unable to match the talent and pace of Bryn Mawr's play in the frame, as the Owls registered 14 kills on 32 attack attempts with just two errors in that time. Meanwhile, the Bears struggled with another sloppy set, combining for nine errors in the frame, including one to give Bryn Mawr set point and a chance to tie the match up and force a decisive fifth set. Of course, the Owls capitalized on that opportunity, as Moreno emphatically slammed home a set from Preziuso to close out the fourth frame 25-16 in favor of the visitors.

Back-to-back kills from Ofili gave the Owls their first two points of the fifth frame, and after yet another Ursinus attack error, Bryn Mawr held a 3-2 advantage in the race to 15. However, using their home fans' support as a rallying point, Ursinus went on a major run, opening up a 13-5 lead before the Owls knew what hit them. Bryn Mawr tried to answer back, as after a service error, Cosby threw down another kill and Moreno notched an ace. Unfortunately, the wind had gone out of the Owls sails, as Ursinus held on to take a 15-9 win in the set and claim the match by a 3-2 score.

Ofili led the way for the Owls with 17 kills, while Allie Nagelski recorded 23 digs on the evening. Preziuso continued her solid senior campaign with 38 assists in the contest. The Bears featured two players with double-digit kills: Taylor McCartney earned 17 as well, while Karla Thiele posted 13 of her own. With the loss, the Owls slip to 9-8 on the season and 0-2 in the Centennial Conference. The team will have a rare Saturday off this weekend, but will be on the road on Sunday for their next match when they take on Franklin & Marshall. The Dips have posted a solid 11-8 record so far this season, but have struggled to a 1-3 start in Centennial play, and Sunday's match will be a crucial one for two teams both looking to climb up the conference leaderboard. Game time is set for 1:00 PM.