Westminster, Md. – Bryn Mawr's volleyball squad got their Centennial Conference season underway earlier Saturday afternoon by taking part in the McDaniel Tri-Match. The Owls suffered a 3-0 sweep at the hands of the Green Terror before exacting some revenge in their later match against Penn State Mont Alto. Danielle Preziuso racked up a ridiculous 65 assists on the day while Rachel Ofili once again led the way with 25 kills over the two matches.

In match one of the day, the Owls took on a McDaniel squad that held a solid 11-4 record coming into the day, but were still in search of their first conference win of the season after dropping their first two Centennial tests earlier this year. The first set started out fairly even, with both sides swapping points back and forth. However, the Green Terror (13-4, 1-2 Cent.) soon took charge of the frame, jumping ahead to a 10-5 lead, and the hosts would not look back from there. Bryn Mawr (9-7, 0-1 Cent.) could not string a run of consecutive points longer together longer than two, and ultimately McDaniel cruised to a 25-15 set victory.

The Owls recovered nicely from that drubbing in the second frame, however, at least in the early goings. Sarah Gates started things off with a well-placed serve for an ace, and a bit later Ofili notched her first kill of the set to help Bryn Mawr open up a 5-1 lead on the Green Terror. Later on, another kill from Ofili, followed by one from Ellen Chiu and back-to-back aces by Megan Kilmer, pushed the Owls lead to 12-5. The team continued to carry that lead all the way into the final stages of the match, where the Black and Yellow clung to a 21-20 advantage. Unfortunately for the Owls, McDaniel spun off five straight points to turn things around and take a 2-0 lead over the visitors. Once again, Bryn Mawr rebounded well in the opening of the third set, as the Owls opened up a 10-7 lead thanks to numerous kills from Ofili, Chiu, Avary Taylor and Noemi Moreno. However, McDaniel showed their mettle by putting together a five point run to take an 11-10 lead, and from there the Green Terror would not look back. The hosts coasted away to a 25-18 set three win and thus the 3-0 match victory.

The second contest of the day provided the Owls with an opportunity to exorcise some demons from that earlier loss. Against the Nittany Lions of Penn State Mont Alto, Bryn Mawr managed to rack up 17 more kills while also cleaning up their play a bit as well. The Owls took the first set in 25-16 fashion, and then after a fluke 25-14 loss, Bryn Mawr returned the favor with a 25-11 set three win. The Owls then closed things out with an emphatic fourth set victory to earn the split on the day. Ofili tallied kills on two of the first three plays to help the visitors take a 3-0 lead. Later on, Taylor got in on the action with a kill of her own, and then three straight Nittany Lions errors made it an 11-5 set. Ofili closed out the match with her fourteenth kill, giving the Owls a 3-1 victory and moving them to 9-7 on the year.

Bryn Mawr will get the rest of the month off before they continue their conference season with a trip to Collegeville to face Ursinus. The Bears have started the season 10-5 and are currently 0-2 in the Centennial themselves. This game is set to take place on Wednesday, October 1st at 7:00 PM.