ASHLAND, Ohio - The Bloomsburg University women's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on Saturday as the Huskies concluded their opening weekend of the season at the Ashland University Tournament. Bloomsburg fell 3-1 to both Notre Dame College (12-25, 27-25, 18-25, 17-25) and the hosts from Ashland (15-25, 10-25, 25-22, 16-25) to drop to 1-3 overall on the young season.

In the opener against the Falcons, sophomores Mary Kate Mooney (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) and Mia Nicholes (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) paced the Huskies with eight kills apiece. Nicholes hit .500 for the match as she posted her eight kills on 16 attempts while not committing an error. She added a pair of assisted blocks to finish with nine points. Mooney, meanwhile, led the Huskies with 10.5 points as she contributed two solo blocks and an assisted block to go along with her eight kills.

Freshman Julia Burcin (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) also had a strong match as she finished with seven kills and three assisted blocks for a total of 8.5 points. Sophomore Bryn Stek (Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) and freshman Brooke Kratzer (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) split setting duties and both recorded double-doubles. Kratzer led with 16 assists and had 11 digs while Stek posted 10 assists and 10 digs. On the defensive side, junior Alyssa Cianciulli (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) registered a match-high 32 digs and led both teams with three service aces.

In the nightcap, Bloomsburg showed tremendous resiliency against the Eagles who entered receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II poll. The Huskies totaled 25 points in the first two sets but bounced back to take the third, 25-22, to keep the match alive. Bloomsburg finally succumbed in the fourth set by a 25-16 count.

Sophomore Grace Giza (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) had a tremendous showing on the offensive end as she led the way with 12 kills and a .379 hitting percentage. She added a pair of assisted blocks to finish with a team-high 13 points. Mooney and freshman Shayna Warfel (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) had seven kills apiece while Nicholes and Burcin had five each. Kratzer led with 19 assists while Stek chipped in with 11 assists and 10 digs. Cianciulli posted 22 digs to pace the Huskies with Mooney adding a season-high 18.