COLLEGEVILLE, PA. – The Ursinus College women's volleyball team treated the Heffferich Hall crowd to a 3-0 straight-set (26-24, 25-12, 25-19) victory over Gwynedd Mercy on Tuesday night in non-conference action.  
 
With the win, the Bears continue their perfect start to the 2022 season improving to 10-0 overall and remain as one of five unbeaten teams left in Division III volleyball. Meanwhile, the Griffins of the Atlantic East fell to 3-7 overall.  
 
Senior Katie Cressman recorded a team-high 10 kills while tallying five digs and five aces. Gabby McGinn led the Bears on the defensive side earning seven digs and four aces, while first-year Erin Dychdala finished with a team-high 15 assists. Classmate Noelle Smits earned five kills, three aces, and a block.  
 
In the opening set, the Griffins jumped out to a commanding 11-6 lead after rallying off six straight points behind some miscues from the Bears. Ursinus responded with a 6-2 run cutting their deficit to just two, behind a kill from Cressman and an ace from Reena Robinson. Gwynedd Mercy answered with a 6-2 run after a kill from Lexi Lane made the score 19-14, Griffins. 
 
Once again, the Bears battled back scoring five consecutive points after kills from Cressman and Zoe George while back-to-back aces from Smits tied the score at 19 apiece. Moments later, Ursinus faced match point after a bad set gave the Griffins a 24-23 lead. Smits tied the match for the Bears at 24 a piece after a kill, assisted by Dychdala.  Junior Claire Worley gave the Bears a one-point lead after a service ace, but the Griffins quickly tied the match up again after a kill from Ashley Brown. Ursinus closed out the tightly battled set with back-to-back kills from Gabby McGinn and Cressman giving the Bears a 1-0 match lead. 
 
In the second set, Ursinus jumped out to a 7-4 lead after McGinn and Cressman each capitalized on assists from Dychdala. Each team traded errors over the next few points but a kill from Dychdala stretched the score to a 13-10 Bears lead. Ursinus regained the momentum, winning eight of the next nine points stretching their lead to ten. The run was led by four consecutive service aces from Cressman while Haley Spotts added a kill. The Bears closed out the set winning four of the final five points behind back-to-back service aces from sophomore Emma Illovsky.  
 
In the final set, the Griffins jumped out to a 3-0 lead after an ace and a kill from Julia Rabe. Ursinus rallied off four straight points to regain the lead after an ace from McGinn and a kill from Cressman. The Griffins tied the match at 12 a piece after back-to-back kills from Ashley Brown capped off a 6-2 Gwynedd Mercy run. McGinn and Cressman led the Bears to four consecutive points after two kills from Cressman and back-to-back aces from McGinn. The Bears capped off the night with a kill from Spotts and two from Smits for a 25-19 set victory. 
 
Ursinus held the Griffins to hit just .122 as a team while tallying a .143 attack percentage themselves. Ursinus held a commanding 17-3 advantage in service aces while the Griffins held a slight 14-13 edge in errors.  
 
The Bears will return to action on Saturday, September 24^th as they open Centennial Conference action on the road at Franklin & Marshall at 1pm.