BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University women's volleyball team fell to visiting Susquehanna University in straight sets on Wednesday night in a non-conference matchup at the Nelson Field House. The Huskies dropped to 7-16 overall on the season after the 25-16, 25-16, 26-24 setback to the River Hawks, who improved to 24-4 on the year with the win.

With sophomore Bryn Stek (Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) serving, the Huskies opened the night with four consecutive points before Susquehanna answered with five straight to take a 5-4 edge. The teams continued to exchange points as Bloomsburg trailed 15-14 midway through the opening set before the River Hawks scored ten of the final twelve points down the stretch to earn a 25-16 victory. The Huskies led in the second set, 11-10, but the River Hawks again finished strong by outscoring Bloomsburg, 15-5, to earn their second consecutive 25-16 victory.

Both teams played extremely well in the third set with Bloomsburg jumping out to a 21-15 lead and on its way to sending the match to a fourth set. However, the visitors had other ideas as they went on a 7-0 run to take a 22-21 advantage which forced the Huskies to call a timeout. Sophomore Mia Nicholes (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) stopped the bleeding with a kill to tie the score at 22-22 before the River Hawks answered with a kill from Kody Dillon to retake a one-point lead. Sophomore Mary Kate Mooney (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) and freshman Julia Burcin (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) strung together back-to-back kills to give the Huskies a 24-23 lead but Susquehanna put away the match by scoring the final three points to complete the sweep with a 26-24 win.

Mooney paced the Huskies with nine kills while chipping in nine digs as she narrowly missed a double-double. Burcin, meanwhile, had a strong night offensively as she posted six kills with no errors on a dozen attempts. The freshman added three assisted blocks to total 7.5 points. Sophomore Grace Giza (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) also chipped in with six kills.

Stek posted a team-high 12 assists while junior Alyssa Cianciulli (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) was sensational on the defensive end as she recorded a match-high 22 digs. Sophomore Sydney Buell (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) stuffed the stat sheet on Wednesday, posting four kills, six assists, four assisted blocks, and seven digs.

Sydney Portale had 14 kills to lead the River Hawks while Lindsey Pugh had five kills, 30 assists, and 11 digs on the night.

Bloomsburg returns to conference action this weekend as it heads to East Stroudsburg on Friday night, October 25, before traveling to Kutztown on Saturday, October 26, for a 4:00 p.m. start.