LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College Women's Volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (27-25, 17-25, 13-25, 19-25) contest to Franklin & Marshall in Centennial Conference play on Wednesday night.
 
 
Senior Caroline Sherman led the Bears with 15 kills and a .286 hitting percentage while assisting on five blocks. Sophomore Alonna McCummings had six kills and assisted on three blocks and senior Rachel Bernard led the team with 17 assists.
 
 
The teams traded points to open the first set and the Bears were the first team to gain a lead by more than a point at 5-3. Ursinus led 8-6 until the Diplomats won six of the next eight points to go up 12-10. The Bears tied the set up at 12 before Franklin & Marshall won five of the next seven points to go up 17-14. Ursinus worked the deficit down to one at 18-17 and it seemed the Diplomats put the first set away by taking the next six points to reach set point at 24-17. However, the Bears executed a furious rally of winning eight straight points to stunningly take a set point advantage of their own at 25-24. Ursinus staved off a service error with kills by junior Reena Robinson and McCummings to shock the Diplomats and go up 1-0 in the set.
 
 
In the second set, the teams shared short runs but neither team was able to pull away early. Franklin & Marshall went up 11-8 behind three straight points before the Bears won four of the next five points to tie the set at 12. An ace from Bernard put the Bears up 14-13, but the Diplomats won 12 of the next 15 points to level the match at one.
 
 
 
The Diplomats started strong in the third set as they went up 4-1 and extended its lead out to 12-4. Ursinus cut the deficit down to six at 14-8 but could not fend off a red-hot Diplomats squad in the third set as they took a 2-1 match lead with a 25-13 triumph behind a .458 hitting percentage as a team in the set.  
 
 
Franklin & Marshall picked up where they left off in the third set by winning the first three points and taking a 7-2 advantage. Ursinus rallied to pull within a point at 9-8 behind winning six of the next eight points. However, the Diplomats won eight of the next 10 points to go up 17-10. Ursinus took four of the next five points to make it an 18-14 set, but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way.
 
 
The Bears return to action on Saturday, October 26th as they will host Gettysburg at 12:00 p.m. in Centennial action.