SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- The 14th-ranked Mount Union volleyball team saw its five-game winning streak come to an end on Friday night in Springfield, Ohio, at the hands of third-ranked Wittenberg, 3-1.

For the Purple Raiders, it was just their second loss since Sept. 7.

Despite leading several times and never trailing by more than two points in the first set, the Purple Raiders dropped the opener 25-23.  With the set tied at 23, the Tigers got back-to-back kills from Kara Seidenstricker and Melissa Emming to close out Mount Union.  The Raiders' Kristen Gromes (Navarre/Fairless) and Wittenberg's Christina Gilene led all players with eight digs each.  Sophomore Mel Patterson (Mentor/Lake Catholic) and junior Taylor Webb (Geneva/Geneva) recorded four and three kills, respectively, for the Raiders in the first.

In the second, sophomore Nicole Snyder's (Mentor/Lake Catholic) kill gave the Raiders their largest lead of the match (15-11), only to see the Tigers cut the deficit to one on four separate occasions.  But with Mount Union leading 19-18, the Raiders got two straight kills from Snyder and Webb to take a 21-18 advantage.  Webb then ended the set with a kill just moments later, giving the Raiders a 25-22 win to even the match 1-1.

Sophomores Brittany Woodard (Diamond/Southeast) and Sarah Schleich (Westfield Center/Cloverleaf) put 14 and nine assists, respectively, on the board through the first two sets.

Wittenberg never trailed in the third set, however.  The Tigers blew open a 7-6 set by winning 18 of the next 27 points to take the third, 25-15, and a 2-1 match lead.

The Tigers dominated the fourth set as well, jumping out to a 5-0 lead and never looking back.  Like the third set, they never trailed.  Wittenberg beat the Raiders 25-17 to take the set and win the match, 3-1.

The loss was only the second for Mount Union since Sept. 7.  It ended the Raiders' five-game winning streak. 

Gromes led Mount Union with 24 digs.  Webb had 12 kills for the Raiders, Woodard finished with 24 assists and Dee Glass (Medina/Medina) had three blocks.

Wittenberg improved to 13-3 with the victory.

Mount Union looks to rebound tomorrow morning (11:30 a.m.) against conference foe Wilmington.  The Raiders (15-5) are a perfect 2-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play.

                            Short Box Score (Match)
                          2012 Mount Union Volleyball
       #14 Mount Union vs #3 Wittenberg (10/5/2012 at Springfield, Ohio)

  Wittenberg def. Mount Union 25-23,22-25,25-15,25-17

  Mount Union (15-5) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Taylor Webb 12-0-2; Mel
  Patterson 7-0-0; Nicole Snyder 7-1-3; Dee Glass 6-0-3; Mary Tout
  5-0-0; Kara Berger 4-0-1; Sarah Schleich 1-1-0; Lauren Mastroine
  1-0-0; Kristen Gromes 0-1-0; Totals 43-3-5.0. (Assists) - Brittany
  Woodard 24; Sarah Schleich 14. (Dig leaders) - Kristen Gromes 24;
  Lauren Mastroine 14; Nicole Snyder 13

  Wittenberg (13-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Kara Seidenstricker 18-1-3;
  Jessica Batanian 14-0-0; Andrea Behling 10-0-1; Haley Mucha 5-0-2;
  Jordan Mungovan 4-0-0; Hallie Donathan 2-1-0; Melissa Emming 2-0-0;
  Christina Gilene 0-1-0; Totals 55-3-4.0. (Assists) - Hallie Donathan
  26; Jordan Mungovan 13. (Dig leaders) - Christina Gilene 30; Hallie
  Donathan 18; Jessica Batanian 16; Kara Seidenstricker 12; Melissa
  Emming 11

  Site: Springfield, Ohio (Pam Smith Arena)
  Date: 10/5/2012      Attend: 214   Time: 1:49    
  Referees: