PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia University women's volleyball team was defeated by visiting Molloy, 3-2, in a home non-conference match Saturday afternoon in the Gallagher Center.

Philadelphia (0-2) jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a 25-20 set one win and a 25-14 set two triumph. Molloy (1-2) came back to claim the final three sets by scores of 30-28, 25-21, and 18-16.

Senior outside hitter Brittany Olson (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore), junior setter Heather Martin (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley), and sophomore outside hitter Allison Manley (Saint Charles, Ill./Saint Charles East) all recorded a double-double in the loss for the Rams. Olson and Manley posted 11 kills and 11 digs, while Martin had 24 assists and 17 digs.

Junior middle hitter Terra Ecker (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) and sophomore middle hitter Chelsea Hughes (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) also had double-digit kills with 14 and 10, respectively.  Senior libero Morgan McCarthy (Beaver, Pa./South Side) led the defense with 26 digs.

Sam Berna led Molloy with a match-high 17 kills and 14 digs. Alley Stefanovski added 29 assists and 10 digs. Euginia Anthony recorded a match-best 29 digs.

The Rams faced a 13-7 deficit during the first set coming out of a timeout. Philadelphia responded by outscoring Molloy 18-7 during the rest of the set. Hughes had three kills during the surge.

In the second set, the Rams were solid as they hit .344 and kept the Lions to a -0.154 percentage. Ecker recorded four kills, while Manley and Olson had three.

Molloy was down 24-22 and fought off two match points to tie set three at 24. Facing another set point at 28-27, the Lions earned the final three points to win the set.

The Lions carried the momentum from set three into set four as they jumped out to an 11-2 lead.

In five set, Philadelphia went on a 6-2 run—behind two kills each from Ecker and Olson—to tie the match-deciding set at seven. At the end, it took Molloy needed five attempted to secure the match, getting a service ace from Shannon Appel on the fifth try to end the match.

Philadelphia will look for its first win of 2013 when Cairn comes to the Gallagher Center for a non-conference match on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.