SCRANTON, Pa. - Coast Guard women's volleyball emerged from day two of the Scranton Invite on Saturday with a pair of losses in two competitive games. The Bears were swept by Scranton University in game one (24-26, 23-25, 18-25) and outlasted by Misericordia University 2-3 in game two (25-22, 15-25, 25-23, 24-26, 7-15).

Coast Guard and Scranton had similar goals going into the opening contest of the day, with both teams looking to start a win streak after picking up victories the day before. The Royals opened up day one of the tournament with a straight sets victory over Misericordia (25-17, 25-19, 25-19); later in the day, the Bears won in similar fashion by sweeping SUNY New Paltz (25-19, 25-18, 28-26).

Scranton got out to a 10-5 lead early in set one before Coast Guard began clawing their way back to eventually make it an even 19-19 game. It was back-and-forth until the Royals' Erin Keaveney converted back-to-back kills off assists by Cammi Quirk to claim the first set 26-24. Set two saw Coast Guard go up 17-12 before Scranton went on a small run to even the score at 18. The Royals eventually took the set at 25-23 in another competitive finish. The third set started with neither team able to gain the upper hand, but Scranton eventually took a 22-12 lead. Coast Guard tried to mount a rally but the hosts completed the sweep with a score of 25-18.

Junior pin attacker Sarah Somer (Cary, N.C.) led the Bears with seven kills and added two aces and two block assists to her line, middle blockers Allie Wildsmith (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) and Eloise Shirley (Burke, Va.) has solo blocks of their own. Senior libero Kaela France (Ellicott, Colo.) racked up a match-high 21 digs. Coast Guard finished the match with a 0.096 team hit percentage.

In their second game of the day the Bears faced Misericordia University. The Cougars were having better luck at that point in the day, coming off a straight set victory over SUNY New Paltz earlier in the afternoon (25-18, 25-18, 25-16).

Coast Guard took a 10-5 lead to start the opening set, but four kills by Misericordia and a Coast Guard service error soon tied it back up. The game was mostly even until the Bears got to set point at 24-20. Two kills for Misericordia made it a two-point game, but a service error by Cougars outside hitter Cassandra Gendusso allowed Coast Guard to go up 1-0. The second set started off with both teams playing to an 11-11 tie. Misericordia would pull away to a 20-15 lead before taking set two by a score of 25-15. Set three initially looked as though the Bears had flipped the script as they held a 22-11 lead at one point. Misericordia would go on a 10-0 run, getting the deficit down to just one point before Allie Widsmith converted a huge kill to put an end to the Cougars' spree. Coast Guard would win the set by a score of 25-23 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth set saw neither team able to get out to lead larger than two points until the Bears got up to a 14-9 lead thanks to a trio of Misericordia errors and a pair of aces by Kaela France. The Cougars would get the deficit back within two points at 18-16, and the game remained close late as both teams were locked at 22 apiece. A kill by Wildsmith and a service error by Misiercordia got the Bears to match point at 24-23, but the Cougars turned it around after two Coast Guard attack errors put them in the same position. A kill by Misericordia's Meghan Peters put the set away and tied the game at 2-2.

The fifth set saw the Cougars take an 8-4 lead before the teams switched sides. Misericordia would not slow down, extending their lead to 8 points before Coast Guard senior pin attacker Shannon Shaw (Torrance, Calif.) converted a kill to get the Bears back in the scoring column. An ace by Wildsmith and another kill by Shaw made it a 12-7 game, but Misericordia then scored three straight points to claim the win.

Wildsmith was the main force in Coast Guard's game two performance, leading the team with 10 kills with an ace, a block, and a clock assist. Shaw converted 7 kills, making her and Wildsmith two of four Bears players with 7+ kills in the game; Eloise Shirley had the second-most in the game with 9 and sophomore pin attacker Julia Gallinger (Garrison, N.Y.) converted 7 on a .438 hit percentage. Sophomore setter Keira Whalen (Philadelphia, Pa.) tallied 16 helpers while Kaela France had 24 digs. The Bears had a .141 team hit percentage throughout the match.

Wildsmith and France were also picked to the All-Scranton Invite Team for their performances over the past two days. Wildsmith totaled 22 kills and 4 blocks while France amassed 59 digs and 6 aces.

Women's volleyball will be back in action at home on Tuesday as they face Westfield State University at 6PM. The match can be viewed online with a FloSports subscription.