COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College volleyball team suffered a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-9, 25-8) at the hands of Swarthmore in its Centennial Conference opener Tuesday night.

The Bears (4-8, 0-1) started the match on fire, opening up an early 4-1 bulge on last year's CC runner-up after a kill by sophomore Kelly Piotrowicz. A kill by senior Taylor McCartney quieted a four-point swing in favor of Swarthmore (6-4, 2-0) to knot the opening frame at 5, and Ursinus remained right in the thick of it at 15-12 following an ace from freshman Paige DeAlba.

The Garnet, however, rolled up a 6-0 run to separate for a 25-17 decision in the first set and controlled play from there, taking the final two sets by comfortable margins.

Sarah Wallace and Olivia Leventhal led a balanced attack with seven kills apiece for Swarthmore, which hit .254 (28K-10E-71A) and won 72 percent of its side-out points. Malia Scott had ten assists and seven digs, while Sarah Girard posted 12 digs. Guin Mesh had six of the Garnet's 11 aces on the night.

Senior Allison Raff paced the Bears with four kills, with sophomore Kelly Piotrowicz chipping in three in addition to seven assists and six digs. Junior Sydney Gonzalez had a team-best eight digs – one more than McCartney – and DeAlba finished with six assists and an ace. McCartney combined with freshman Jayme Callum for the team's lone block.

The match was a reunion for Ursinus coach Cecily Scavicchio, who spent the past four seasons as an assistant at Swarthmore.

The Bears continue conference play at Gettysburg on Saturday.