ASTON, Pa. – The Ursinus Volleyball team split a pair of matches to close out the Neumann Invitational on Saturday. The Bears swept through Moravian (25-10, 25-14, 25-21) before dropping a tough five-setter to Messiah (25-23, 19-25, 25-18, 11-25, 11-15).
 
 
The split moves the Bears record to 6-5 overall as they wrapped up a 3-1 record on the week.
 
 
Junior Rachel Bernard eclipsed the 100 career service ace mark against Moravian after tallying four in the match while pacing the Bears offense with 26 assists. Sophomore Mel Eglinton led the Bears with 13 kills against the Greyhounds and a .343 hitting percentage while posting another kill-dig double-double behind 13 digs. Junior Caroline Sherman followed with a kill-dig double-double with 11 each and first-year Daejah Bazemore posted five kills on eight attempts.
 
 
Ursinus hit the ground running in the first set against Moravian by winning six of the first seven points to go up 6-1.  The Bears continued to dominate as they extended their lead out to 11-3 that was capped by three-straight aces from senior Gabby McGinn. Ursinus followed a Moravian point with nine of their own to take a commanding 20-4 lead in the first set and won three of the final four points to close out the dominant win at 25-10. The Bears hit a sizzling 52% as a team in the first set with 13 of the 25 points coming by kills.
 
 
Moravian won the first two points of the second set and held a 5-3 advantage before the Bears came alive by taking nine of the next 10 points to go up 12-6. Leading 14-10, Ursinus put away the second set by winning nine-straight points and cruised to take a 2-0 advantage in the match. The Bears started fast again in the third set by going up 6-2 early on, but the Greyhounds battled back and tied the set up at nine after winning seven of the next 10 points. Moravian used four-straight points to go up 13-10 until Ursinus countered by winning six of the next seven points to go up 16-14. The Greyhounds won three-straight points and went up 17-16 before the Bears used the decisive run of the match by taking five of the next six to go up 21-18. Moravian made one last charge as they got within 21-20, but Ursinus won five of the last six points to lock up their fifth-straight win.
 
 
Against Messiah, Sherman capped off an outstanding week by matching her career-high of 22 kills that was set on Friday against Widener which earned her a spot on the Neumann All-Tournament team. Bernard paced the Bears offense with 29 assists and junior Emma Illovsky put forth a valiant effort with a career-high 36 digs that doubled her previous career best.
 
 
Messiah went up 4-2 early in the first set and eventually extended their lead out to 13-7 after going on a run that saw them five of six points. The Falcons led 15-9 until the Bears stormed back by taking seven of the next nine points to get within one at 17-16. Messiah seemed to regain control of the set by winning three-straight points to go up 20-16, but Ursinus won seven of the next nine points to take the lead at 23-22, their first lead since going up 2-1 early. The Bears shrugged off a service error to win the first set by taking the last two points.
 
 
The Falcons once again took an early lead in the second set at 5-2 and maintained their lead out to 9-8 despite multiple runs by the Bears. Messiah then broke the set open by winning eight of the next 10 points to go up 17-10.  The Falcons built their lead up by as many as eight at 22-14 and survived a late Bears charge that saw them win five of six points to take set two, 25-19. The fourth set began with the teams trading points back and forth as neither team was able to pull ahead by more than two points early on. Ursinus led 8-6 until the Falcons used the first big run of the third set by winning seven of the next eight points to go up 13-9. The Bears countered by winning six of the next eight points to tie things up at 15 before surging ahead with five-straight points to go up 21-17 after trailing by one. Ursinus closed out the set with the final four points following a service error to gain the upper hand in the competitive match.
 
 
However, Messiah started strong in the fourth set with their backs against the wall by winning the first four points before going up 13-5 behind a collection of aces and attack/ball handling errors. Ursinus won back-to-back points to get within six at 13-7 but would get no closer than that as the Falcons cruised to force a fifth set. The Falcons continued their momentum from the fourth set early in the fifth set by taking a 5-1 lead behind four kills. Ursinus fought back by winning eight-straight points with six coming by kills to go up 8-5 in the fifth set. A kill from Sherman put the Bears up 9-6, but Messiah won the next four points to go up 11-9, a lead they would not relinquish. Ursinus used a service error to get within one at 11-10 until Messiah closed out the match by winning four of the last five points.
 
 
The Bears return to action on Thursday, September 21st as they will host Stockton in non-conference action at 7:00 p.m.