COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's volleyball treated the Helfferich Hall crowd to a straight set sweep (25-15, 25-12, 25-13) over McDaniel College on Friday evening.

 
With the win, Ursinus improved to 15-7 overall and 3-5 in Centennial Conference action, meanwhile the Green Terror fell to 2-16 on the season and 1-7 in conference play. The victory keeps the Bears alive in the Centennial Conference playoff chase and marks the most wins in a season since 1998.



The Bears felt the energy from the crowd early on, jumping out to an 4-1 lead and later extending the score to 8-2 lead before McDaniel called a timeout. Caroline Sherman got the Bears on the board first with a kill assisted by sophomore Rachel Bernard. First-years Reena Robinson and Noelle Smits joined the party each adding a kill over the Bears 8-2 run. Senior Katie Cressman stretched the Bears lead to seven after collecting back-to-back kills to make the score 12-5. The Green Terror answered with a kill from Nia Roberts to cut the deficit to six, but the Bears bounced back with four consecutive points to stretch their lead to ten. Ursinus capitalized on two errors from the Green Terror and Smits earned an ace during the span. With Ursinus leading 19-9, Haley Spotts picked up her first kill of the set to stretch the Bears lead to 11. McDaniel responded with a 5-0 run before Spotts struck again firing her attack past the Green Terror defense. Her kill sparked a 4-1 Bears run led by three kills from three different Bears, as Robinson, Bernard, and Cressman each earned kills. Cressman's kill closed the set as the Bears won 25-15.


 
Urisnus carried the momentum over into the second set jumping out to a 7-3 lead, before McDaniel answered with back-to-back points to cut the lead to two. The Bears scored seven of the next eight points to make the score 14-6. First-year Erin Dychdala started the rally with a kill and Sherman continued her stellar play collecting two kills. The Green Terror bounced back with the next point, but Ursinus answered with a 7-3 run leading to a McDaniel timeout with the score 21-11. Bernard earned an ace and Robinson collected two kills during the Bears run. Each team traded points as McDaniel's Angalyn Strouse and Nia Roberts each earned a kill to make the score 22-12. The Bears closed out the set on a 3-0 run as Cressman earned two kills and an ace to give Ursinus the set victory 25-12.

 
 
McDaniel bounced back in the third set jumping to a 4-0 lead, before Ursinus responded with a 4-0 to tie the match at four a piece. Smits and Cressman each earned a kill over the run and senior Luca Walborn was awarded an assist on Cressman's kill. Each team traded points as both teams struggled with errors until an ace from McDaniel's Allyson Burgee gave the Green Terror an 8-7 lead. Trailing 11-8, Ursinus battled back using a 5-0 run to regain the lead, behind kills from Cressman and Robinson. Senior Ashley Kelly earned two assists over the Bears run leading to a McDaniel timeout with the score 13-11. After the timeout, McDaniel answered with back-to-back kills from Roberts and Strouse. The Bears quickly responded with kills from Cressman and Dychdala and back-to-back aces from Cressman gave Ursinus a 17-13 lead. A Smits kill sparked a 3-0 Ursinus run as junior Megan Aube earned assists on kills from Spotts and Dychdala leading to a McDaniel timeout. The Bears came out of the timeout and closed out the Green Terror with a 5-1 run winning the set 25-15. Sherman and Spotts each earned a kill as Bernard closed out the match with an ace.


 
An all-around performance led the Bears to the conference victory as they finished with an attack percentage of .350. The Bears defense held McDaniel to hit just .072 as a team, while forcing 16 attack errors. Cressman finished with a team-high of eight kills and six digs, while Bernard earned a game-high of 18 assists. Junior Gabby McGinn, Dychdala, and Cressman each finished with six digs, while Sherman added six kills.


 
The Bears will return to action on Wednesday, October 26^th as they travel to Haverford for a Centennial Conference matchup starting at 7pm.