(ALLIANCE, OH)--A furious rally by the Mount Union volleyball team came up just short as the Purple Raiders were edged out of the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title in a 3-2 (23-25, 25-13, 25-15, 14-25, 15-11) loss to No. 17 in the nation Heidelberg Saturday at The McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex in Alliance.

Heidelberg wins its first OAC title since 1986 and The Berg (25-6 overall and 8-1 OAC) will be the No. 1 seed for next week's OAC Tournament.

Mount Union (21-5 overall, 7-2 OAC) finishes second in the OAC for the second time in three seasons and the Raiders will be the No. 2 seed in OAC Tournament.

Mount Union won the first set 25-23 before Heidelberg rallied for 25-13 and 25-15 wins in the second and third sets.  The Raiders posted a come back of their own with an impressive 25-14 win in the fourth set before Heidelberg closed out the match with a 15-11 fifth set victory.

All-American senior Melissa Mahnke (North Royalton/North Royalton) led the Purple Raiders with a double-double as she had 18 kills and 16 digs.

Fellow senior Sarah Parker (Geneva/Geneva) had nine kills, junior Sarah Dean (Strongsville/Walsh Jesuit) posted 34 digs and junior Katie Kmieck (Lakewood/Lakewood) had 33 assists as the other top performers for Mount Union.

Mount Union hosts No. 7 seed Marietta in an OAC Tournament Quarterfinal match next Tuesday, November 3rd at 7 pm.  The Raiders swept the regular season matchup with the Pioneers in Alliance.