CHESTER, Pa. (Oct. 3, 2016) – Senior captain Sabrina Barbieri (Glen Mills, Pa.) and sophomore Nicole Dorman (East Norriton, Pa.) each registered double-doubles, but the Widener University volleyball team fell to Moravian by a score of 3-2 on Monday evening at the Schwartz Center. Set scores were 25-23, 16-25, 15-25, 25-21 and 10-15.
 
Widener came out on a roll during the first set and burst out to a 7-1 advantage. Sophomores Kierston Forney (Manassas, Va.) and Janie Kalinock (Ellicott City, Md.) teamed up for a pair of blocks to provide a spark in the early going before two Moravian attacking errors helped the Pride build their lead up to 13-4. But by taking advantage of several Widener attacking errors, Moravian stormed back and tied the match at 16s when Mary Zacher dropped one of her two service aces. The Pride, however, got a kill and a solo block from Kalinock on the next two rallies to move ahead again and for good. Another solo block by Kalinock gave the hosts the narrow victory in a sloppy set that saw the teams combine for a negative hitting percentage.
 
The Pride led early in the second set, but a kill by Taylor Kornmann followed by a net violation on the hosts allowed Moravian to take an 8-7 advantage. The Greyhounds used the momentum to embark on a 13-4 run and build themselves an 18-10 lead. Widener came no closer than seven the rest of the way, and a kill by Zacher on set point allowed the Greyhounds to even things up.
 
After Widener scored the first point of the third set on a Kristin DeCicco (Sewell, N.J.) kill, the Greyhounds used a setting error by Barbieri as fuel to jump ahead. Consecutive service aces by Victoria Kauffman made it 4-1, and a solo block by Taylor Kornmann later put the Greyhounds ahead by an 18-9 score. Another Pride setting error allowed the visitors to take the third set by a 10-point margin.
 
Widener came storming back in the fourth set and hit at a .405 clip to eventually force a deciding frame. In a close set that featured five ties and three lead changes, Barbieri set up Dorman and Forney for kills to break a 15-all tie and force the Greyhounds to take a timeout. Widener did not surrender the lead the rest of the way and ended it on another kill by Dorman.
 
The fifth set, however, belonged to Moravian. After a back-and-forth start which featured five ties, a pair of Pride attacking errors kickstarted a 5-0 run for the Greyhounds. Two more errors on the attack by the hosts put Moravian firmly ahead at 13-7, and Zacher smashed a kill on match point to give the Greyhounds the victory.
 
Moravian (10-10) was paced by Zacher, who fell just shy of a double-double with 18 kills and nine digs. Kauffman contributed 44 assists and seven digs to go along with three aces, and Jean Markovic dug up 25 Pride attack attempts.
 
Barbieri and Dorman, who each broke a single-match school record over the weekend, led the way for the Pride in the setback. Barbieri had 48 kills and 13 digs, while Dorman added 22 kills and 12 digs. Kalinock put fohrth a solid effort with eight kills and eight blocks, including four solo, and freshman Ashley McAfee (Abington, Pa.) led the defense with 16 digs.
 
Widener (8-12) resumes Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth action when it hosts Stevenson on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7:00 p.m.