BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg volleyball team fell in a closely-contested five-set, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) contest to Shepherd, 3-2, inside the Nelson Field House on Saturday afternoon.
 
Elise Adelman (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) tied the program record for service aces in a match with eight. The sophomore setter is the first Husky to post eight aces in a game since Mary Kate Mooney against Lock Haven on October 30, 2018. Adelman also recorded 44 assists, five kills and a block assist in the contest.
 
The Huskies also broke the program record for aces in a game with 20. The previous record came against Lock Haven on October 30, 2018.
 
Marlee Johnson (Newville, Pa./Big Spring) lead the team in kills with 16 on 48 total attacks while tallying three blocks. Katie Kuehl (Aston, Pa./Archmere Academy (Del.)) finished the game with 12 kills and a .357 hitting percentage. Sophie Wales (Port Matilda, Pa./State College) posted 11 kills and four blocks.
 
The first set saw Bloomsburg (6-13, 4-3 PSAC East) jump ahead to an early 4-1 lead with kills from Johnson and Kuehl. A 7-3 Shepherd (15-4, 7-0) run moved the score to 8-7 before the Huskies regained the lead with five-straight points to make it 12-8. The Rams surged back from with a 9-4 swing.
 
With the SU ahead 20-18, Wales and Adelman recorded kills in a four-point run to go up 22-20. A 5-2 Shepherd run moved the score to 25-24 before the Huskies rattled off three straight to take the first set. Bloomsburg recorded a .237 hitting percentage in first set.
 
The second set proved to be a back-and-forth battle early on, with neither side gaining a lead larger than two points until Bloomsburg went on a four-point run to take a 17-13 lead. An 8-3 run from the Rams allowed them to regain the lead at 21-20. After the two teams exchanged kills, the Huskies took a 24-22 advantage with a kill from Gustie and an ace from Maura Uschock (Irwin, Pa./Hempfield). Shepherd closed out the set, 27-25 with a 5-1 run.
 
Bloomsburg and Shepherd exchanged point to begin the third set before a four-point swing moved the score to 9-5. The Huskies closed the gap with a 4-1 run but the Rams surged back ahead with an 8-2 run. Bloomsburg then went on a 6-1 run, highlighted by aces from Allison Saalfrank (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) and Adelman, to move the score to 19-17. Shepherd posted four straight and looked to close out the set with the score at 23-17. The Huskies rallied back with a 6-1 run but couldn't complete the comeback, dropping the third set 25-23.
 
Emily Gustie (Crofton, Md./Crofton) opened the fourth set with an ace before the maroon and gold quickly took control in with an early 10-2 lead. Bloomsburg had five kills in the sequence. After back-and-forth exchanges moved the score to 16-8, Bloomsburg recorded kills from Wales, Johnson and Kuehl to take a commanding 23-9 lead. Shepherd had one last surge, but the Huskies ultimately forced the fifth set with a 25-14 victory in the fourth set. The maroon and gold finished with a .565 hitting percentage in the set.
 
A pair of kills from Johnson and an ace from wales gave Bloomsburg an early 4-1 advantage in the final set. The rams tallied back-to-back point to move the score to 4-3 before the Huskies responded with back-to-back aces from Adelman. After trading points to an 11-7 Bloomsburg lead, Shepherd rattled off an eight-point run to take the fifth set and the match.
 
Bloomsburg is back in action on Thursday, October 24 as they host Felician at 6 p.m.