READING, Pa. – Playing its second home game in two days, the Albright Lions volleyball team was dealt a 3-1 loss (25-20, 19-25, 27-29, 22-25) to Ursinus in non-conference action at the Bollman Center on Thursday night.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 9-11 on the season as they see their three-game winning streak snapped. Meanwhile, the Bears of the Centennial Conference improve to 9-16 overall.
 
Sophomore Damaris Gomez led the Lions with a team-high 12 kills while adding 10 digs and four assists. Sophomore Bryana Chambers followed with nine kills and matched a season-high with five totals blocks. Sophomore Kaitlyn Chell recorded eight kills and 17 digs, while classmate Alexa Poss paced the offense with 30 assists in addition to tallying a season-high eight kills. Poss has now recorded 30+ assists in three of the last four games. Seniors Becca Davis and Kaylyn Haan led the defense with 25 and 10 digs, respectively, and sophomore Brooke Franklin four service aces.
 
Ursinus opened the match by quickly taking a 5-1 lead in the first set behind four kills, but the Lions answered by winning five of the next six points to make it a 6-6 game. The first set would then go back and forth as neither team was able to build a lead over two for the majority of the time. Albright broke that streak as they won five-straight points to go up 23-17 after holding just a one-point lead. The Bears made a quick rally to cut the lead down to 24-20 before the Lions closed it out after a bad set. The second set started back and forth again to leave the score tied at five early. Ursinus then won eight of the next nine points to take a 13-6 lead behind six kills and two service aces. The Lions rallied to cut the lead down to 14-9, but the Bears quickly won three of the next four points to extend the lead back out to 18-10. Ursinus held firm on the second set as they took a 23-14 lead before Albright won five-straight points to make it a 23-19 game. The Bears would win the final two points to even the game up that was capped by a service ace.
 
Albright started the third set strong by taking an early 7-4 lead after recording four kills early on. The Bears fought back with three-straight points to tie the third set at seven before a five-point run by the Lions forced an Ursinus timeout at 12-7. The Bears came out of the timeout by winning nine of the next 11 points to take a 16-14 lead, and would stretch the lead out to 23-18. However, the Lions made a ferocious rally by winning six of the next seven points to force extra points tied at 24. Following a few more points, the Bears were able to rally down 27-26 to steal back the third set at 29-27.
 
Ursinus again raced out to an early lead at 5-1 to start the fourth set, and would work its way out to an 11-5 lead. Albright rallied by winning four of the next five points to cut the Bear lead down to 12-9, and would eventually get within two points at 14-12. The Bears worked the lead back out to 19-15 until the Lions came back yet again with four-straight points to lock the score at 19-all. Albright would then take its first lead of the fourth set at 21-20 and force an Ursinus timeout after a kill from Chambers. However, the Bears ended the match by taking five of the last six points to win the final set at 25-22.
 
The Bears hit at .178 clip as a team on the night, while the Lions held a .144 hitting percentage. Albright held a 5-1 advantage in blocks, but the Bears held an 11-6 advantage in service aces. Kelly Piotrowicz led the Bears with a triple-double behind a game-high 17 kills, 20 assists, and 16 digs in the win.
 
Albright will return to action on Tuesday, October 23^rd when they will travel to face Messiah in MAC Commonwealth play at 7 p.m.