COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus Women's Volleyball team held tough with Swarthmore before eventually falling in four sets (18-25, 25-21, 25-15) on Wednesday night in Centennial Conference action at Helfferich Hall.
 
 
Sophomore Mel Eglinton led the Bears with a team-high 11 kills while adding five digs and junior Caroline Sherman posted eight kills plus nine digs. Senior Haley Spotts added five kills and four blocks while junior Rachel Bernard paced the offense with 17 assists. Sophomore Erin Dychdala nearly matched Bernard with 15 assists.
 
 
After Ursinus won the first point, the Garnet reeled off five-straight points and took an early 5-1 lead in the first set. Swarthmore continued to pull away early as they won five of the next six points after leading 7-4 to go up 12-5, forcing a Bears timeout. Swarthmore worked their lead up to 16-9 before the Bears battled back to get within two points at 17-15 after winning six of the next seven points. After a timeout, the Garnet won eight of the next 11 points to close out the set win.
 
 
The Bears started strong in the second set as they took a 4-1 advantage behind three kills. Ursinus fended off the Garnet twice in the early going when they cut the lead down to one and went up 11-6 behind four-straight points. Ursinus maintained their lead out to 14-9 before the Garnet pulled within one point again at 17-16 after winning seven of the next 10 points. However, the Bears responded by taking five of the next seven points to go up 22-18. Swarthmore pulled within two points at 23-21 but the Bears used two Swarthmore errors to lock up their first set win against the Garnet since 2011.
 
 
Both teams traded points in the third set before Swarthmore surged ahead at 7-4. However, the relentless Bears fought back again with four-straight points to take an 8-7 lead. Swarthmore countered by winning six of the next eight points to go up 13-10 and eventually got things to 15-11. Ursinus got back within two points at 18-16 and it seemed the Garnet would pull away with the set after taking a 22-17 advantage. Ursinus won five of the next six points to get within one point at 23-22 but the Garnet got two kills to survive the set.
 
 
The competitive action continued into the fourth set when the lead traded hands six times and tied on four occasions. With the set tied at nine, the Garnet won three-straight points to go up 12-9 and eventually worked their lead out to 15-13. Swarthmore finally gained a stranglehold on the set and match by winning six of the next eight points to go up 21-15 and the final three points.
 
 
Jordan Perry led the Garnet with 12 kills and Kaylee Zhang posted a kill-dig double-double with 18 digs and 11 kills. Dani Pena registered a game-high 31 assists while adding 10 digs.
 
 
 
The Bears will return to action on Saturday, October 14th as they will travel to face Washington College in Centennial Conference action at 1:00 p.m.