Oct. 16, 2009

Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Lafayette volleyball team faced Bucknell on Friday night in the first of two weekend road matches and suffered a 3-0 setback to the Bison. The Leopards dropped 23-25, 23-25 and 17-25 decisions.

Senior Cara Mulholland led the team with nine kills while Alana Taylor had eight kills and finished the night with a .438 attacking percentage. Katrina Racibarskas added three service aces and Ashton Rossi had 29 assists.

Bucknell (7-11, 3-3) led 4-1 early in the first set before Lafayette (11-8, 2-4) came back to tie at seven-all and took an 8-7 lead on freshman Fiorella Bellini's service ace. The set went back and forth and at one point the Leopards held a three-point (16-13) advantage, but the Bison made a late surge and broke a 22-22 tie on a Jackie Landes Kill to take the lead for good. Landes finished the evening with a match-high 10 kills.

Lafayette never led in the second set and trailed by six (24-18) late in the action. The Leopards did not give in, however, and made it a two-point set (24-22) on a Bucknell error but could not pull any closer as the Bison upped their lead in the match to 2-0 on a set-winning kill from Landes.

The third set was decided by the largest margin as Lafayette lost 25-17. The Leopards briefly held a 7-6 edge but Bucknell regained the lead (8-7) on another Landes kill and never again trailed as the Bison won their third league match of the season.

Lafayette travels to Colgate on Saturday for a 4 p.m. match.