HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's volleyball team dropped a hard-fought battled on Wednesday evening to Haverford College in straight sets (25-19, 25-20, 25-22) from Gooding Arena.



With the loss, the Bears fell to 15-8 overall and 3-6 in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile the Fords improved to 12-10 on the season and 5-4 in conference play.
 

 
Senior Katie Cressman finished with a game-high 15 kills while adding seven digs and an ace. Sophomore Caroline Sherman earned eight kills while senior Ashley Kelly collected a game-high 11 digs and three aces. Sophomore Rachel Bernard continued her stellar sophomore campaign tallying 12 assists and four aces, while first-year Erin Dychdala finished with a team-high 13 assists. Junior Haley Spotts chipped in five kills as first-year Noelle Smits earned a game-high three blocks.
 

 
The Fords jumped out to an 8-2 advantage early in the first set, before the Bears battled back with a 4-1 run to cut their deficit to three. Cressman earned two kills and an ace over the Bears run. The Fords responded with five consecutive points to make the score 14-6. Ursinus answered with a 9-3 run to cut their deficit to just two leading to a Haverford timeout. Sherman, Spotts, and Cressman each earned two kills while Bernard earned back-to-back aces over the Bears run. After the Haverford timeout, Ursinus scored back-to-back points to tie the match at 17 apiece. The Fords responded with an 8-2 run to close out the first set, 25-19.
 
 

Haverford carried the momentum over into the second set jumping out to a 7-4 advantage, before a Cressman kill cut the deficit to two. With the Fords leading 9-5, the Bears used four consecutive points to tie the match at nine a piece. Spotts earned back-to-back kills and junior Claire Worley added an ace over the Bears four-point run. Haverford regained the lead using an 8-3 run, including four consecutive points to make the score 17-12. The Bears continued to rally back, scoring five of the next six points to bring their deficit to one and leading to a Haverford timeout. Kelly collected an ace as first-year Reena Robinson and Cressman each tallied a kill. After the Fords timeout, Haverford regained the lead scoring three consecutive points to make the score 21-17 and causing a timeout for Ursinus. Haverford scored first out of the Bears timeout, but Ursinus scored the next three points to bring their deficit to just two. Haverford rallied for the final three points of the second set for a 25-20 set victory and a 2-0 edge heading into the third set.
 

 
The Bears bounced back in the beginning of the third set scoring the first three points behind back-to-back aces from Bernard. Each team traded points until the Bears used a 3-1 run to make the score 9-5. The Fords answered with a 5-1 run to tie the match at ten a piece midway through the third set. Ursinus regained a 13-11 lead, after back-to-back kills from Sherman and a Fords attack error. Haverford once again bounced back with a 9-2 run to recapture a 20-15 lead, resulting in a Bears timeout. Ursinus continued to show their resilience scoring four consecutive points after the timeout. Cressman added a trio of kills and a kill from Dychdala led to a Fords timeout. The Fords rallied after the timeout scoring four of the next five points to stretch their lead to four. With Haverford leading 24-20, Ursinus scored back-to-back points after a Sherman kill and a Fords error. The Fords closed out the set and the match will a kill from Abby Holland for a 25-22 set victory.
 
 

The Fords finished with a hitting percentage of .337 as Claire Jordan led the Fords will 11 kills. Gabrielle Fontanilla finished with a game-high 19 assists and Juliet Young tallied 10 digs.

 
 
The Bears will return to action on Saturday for their 2022 season finale with a road trip to Gettysburg starting at 1pm.