ALLIANCE, Ohio- Mount Union's volleyball team handed Case Western Reserve (8-1) its first loss of the season in a five-set thriller Wednesday night at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex in Alliance.

The Purple Raiders (6-2) were led by Caitlyn Synek (Independence/Independence) who tallied 16 kills and five blocks, Kyleigh Jackson (Galloway/Westland) added 10 kills and three blocks while Mary Beth Keck (Strongsville/St. Joseph Academy) had seven kills and six blocks.

Riley Schenk (Amherst/Amherst Steele) ran the offense with 32 assists and also added six kills and 11 digs. Allison Baird (North Royalton/North Royalton) led the defense with 26 digs.

Mount Union led the entire first set coming out on top with a 25-18 win. The Raiders started the second set off with an early 3-1 lead but let the Spartans take a commanding lead with a serving run making it 14-10. Baird had a 7-0 service run to catch the Raiders uup on their way to taking a 22-20 lead. The Raiders pulled out the second set with a 25-21 win.

Mount Union dropped a tight third set 25-19 then lost the fourth set 25-15. The Raiders came out in the fifth set pushing to a 4-3 lead. With the game going back and forth, Celia Barrett (University Heights/Hathaway Brown) came out with a 6-0 service run to get Mount Union an 11-8 lead. The Spartans could not catch the Raiders as they went on to win the fifth set 15-9.

The Raiders travel to Brockport, N.Y. for the Brockport State Invitational Friday September, 16 and Saturday September, 17. Mount Union competes against Lycoming (Pa.) at 6:00 PM and Brockport St. (N.Y.) at 8:00 PM on Friday and Hilbert (N.Y.) at 11:00 AM and SUNY Canton at 1:00 PM on Saturday.