BEREA, Ohio- Mount Union's volleyball split a pair of games defeating Berry (Ga.) and losing to R.I.T (N.Y.) in the Marcia French Invitational Saturday at the Rudolph Upsprung Gymnasium 

Against Bethany, the Purple Raiders (5-1), defeated the Vikings 25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 21-25 and 15-11 in five sets. Junior Mallory Sliman (Amherst/Amherst Steele) led the pack with 16 kills while senior Caitlyn Synek (Independence/Independence) followed with 12 kills and four blocks.  

Mount Union started off the match defeating Berry 25-22. The second set went back and forth with the Raiders and the Knights until Berry came out on top with a six-run service run defeating Mount 25-21.  The Raiders then defeated Berry in the third set 25-18 but dropped the fourth 25-21.

The Raiders pushed for a strong lead in the fifth set leading 11-7. Sophomore Mary Beth Keck (Strongsville/St. Joseph Academy) had three serves in a row to have the Raiders lead 14-9. With the Knights catching up 14-11, sophomore Kyleigh Jackson (Galloway/Westland) had the last kill to finish off the game 15-11.

The Knights were led by Jessica Gum with 21 kills and Hannah Kate Thompson with 51 assists.

Against R.I.T, Mount Union lost in five sets 25-27, 22-25, 25-19, 27-25 and 15-9. Leading the Raiders was Morgan Chapman (Seven Fields, Pa./Seneca Valley) with 14 kills and nine digs. Allison Baird (North Royalton/North Royalton) led in digs with 21.

Mount Union started off the match losing two close sets 25-27 and 22-25. The Raiders came back to defeat the Tigers in the third and fourth sets 25-19 and 27-25 but could not get a lead in the fifth set losing 15-9.

The Tigers were led by Sarah Szybist with 37 kills and Erin Parkinson with 66 assists.

Baird was named to the Marcia French Memorial Invitational All-Tournament Team with a total of 97 digs on the weekend.

Mount Union will host Case Western Reserve Wednesday, September 14 at 7:00 pm at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.