COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - The McDaniel College volleyball team totaled a season-high 49 kills while adding 12 blocks as it closed out the 2026 season with a Centennial Conference road victory on Saturday at Ursinus, 23-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-21.
The Green Terror (9-14, 2-8 CC) picked up their second conference win of the season and finished the season with a win for the fourth-straight year.
First-year
Annika Cortez led the Green Terror with 15 kills and seven digs while sophomore
Mariya Carson finished with 14 kills and eight digs with a .313 hitting percentage. Junior
Cassy Poteet recorded 35 assists, two service aces and three block assists. Senior
Abigayle Bowley totaled six blocks, including two solo, and added seven kills.
The Green Terror built a 9-5 lead in the first set behind a balanced offense and service aces from senior
Reese Beck and first-year
Arrian Spratt, but Ursinus answered with eight-straight points to move ahead 13-9. McDaniel battled back late, using an Ursinus attack error, a Cortez kill, and a ball-handling error to tie it at 23. However, Ursinus (5-18, 0-10 CC) scored the final two points on kills by Madison Small to take the set.
The Bears led 11-8 in the second before the Green Terror turned it around on a service ace by Poteet and turned a three-point deficit into a 13-11 lead with help on two kills by Cortez. Ursinus tied the set at 13-13, but the McDaniel used a service stretch by junior
Natalia Johnson to build a 22-15 advantage.
The Green Terror built separation in the third set by turning a 3-3 tie into an 8-3 lead with blocks from junior
Christiana Alapa, Bowley, and Carson helping fuel the stretch. The Bears later pulled even at 18-18, but McDaniel answered with a Carson kill and back-to-back Bowley kills to move back ahead 21-18. Cortez added two late kills as the visitors won their second-straight set.
In the fourth, the Green Terror used a kill by Poteet, an Ursinus attack error, and a Cortez kill to take a 21-17 lead. The Bears narrowed the gap to 22-20, but the Green Terror answered with a block by senior
Renita Bankole-Gibson and first-year
Hayden Haynes and a kill by Carson to take set up match point. McDaniel sealed the win following an Ursinus service error.
