STAUNTON, Va. - Mary Baldwin dropped a pair of close matches Saturday at the PAC, losing to Virginia Union and Ferrum, each in four sets. MBU fell to Virginia Union 25-14, 13-25, 25-23, 25-22 and then came up short against Ferrum 25-23, 26-24, 21-25, 25-22.

After dropping the opening set to Virginia Union 25-14, the Fighting Squirrels evened the match by controlling the second set 25-13. The Squirrels raced out to an 8-3 early cushion and never trailed.

A kill by Megan Andrews gave MBU a 23-22 lead in the third set, but VUU scored the final three points for a 25-23 win.

Virginia Union used an 11-3 run in the fourth set to break free from a 9-9 tie to lead 20-12. The Squirrels rallied late and pulled to within 24-22 before Virginia Union closed out the match.

Rachel Christian pounded 15 kills for the Squirrels, one more than teammate Sydney Clarke. Leah Sherrill finished with 32 assists and Soleil Rios Rolon added 14 digs.

The match with Ferrum was close all the way. After Ferrum won the first two sets 25-23, 26-24, MBU rallied to stay alive, winning the third set 25-21.

Ferrum led 17-12 in he third set before the Squirrels scored eight straight points to take the lead. A kill by Christian ignited the MBU offense and a block by Jaci McAlwee and Clarke pulled the Squirrels to within 17-14. After a Ferrum error, consecutive kills by Clarke, McAlwee and Sherrill gave MBU an 18-17 lead. Another Ferrum attack error and a kill by Clarke ended the run with MBU on top 20-17. Ferrum closed to within a point at 22-21, but the Squirrels scored the final three points to win the set and stay alive in the match.

The visitors jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead in the fourth set, but MBU rallied to take a 17-15 advantage. Ferrum scored the next five points to lead 20-15 and held on to close out the match. 

Clarke paced the Squirrels with nine kills and Christian added seven. Emily Penny tallied 24 assists and Rios Rolon finished with 14 digs.

Mary Baldwin, now 0-3, returns to action Tuesday at Mid-Atlantic Christian.