The Muhlenberg volleyball team started slowly but finished strong, sweeping a tri-match with Merchant Marine and host Vassar.

The Mules (3-2) dropped the first two sets to Merchant Marine before storming back to win in five, taking the final two sets by dominant scores of 25-10 and 15-5. In their second match, the Mules toppled Vassar in four by winning the final three sets.

Freshman Christina Marcin reached double figures in kills for the fifth time in as many career matches, recording 10 vs. Merchant Marine and 12 vs. Vassar. She also made it four double-doubles in five matches, totaling 37 digs, including 23 in the Merchant Marine match.

Sophomore Esmae Oehler led the attack with 26 total kills, while junior Alyssa Faville brought up 53 digs.

Senior Emma Eglinton moved in the top 10 of Muhlenberg's all-time assists list with 48 in the two matches. She now has a career total of 1240, good for ninth place.

Junior Christina Dalton flirted with a triple-double in the Merchant Marine match, finishing with a career-high 24 assists, 9 kills and 9 digs.

The Merchant Marine match marked the 12th time in program history that Muhlenberg overcame a 2-0 deficit to win in five. In only one of the previous 11 was the decisive set more one-sided - a 15-1 win against Delaware Valley in 1982. The last five times the Mules pulled off the feat, the fifth set was 15-12 or 15-13.

The third set against Merchant Marine was tied at 22, 23 and 24 before back-to-back kills by sophomore Rachel Jacobs and Oehler kept the Mules alive in the match. They took the momentum and ran with it, jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set and never looking back. It was 18-10 before Muhlenberg closed on a 7-0 run, finishing off the set with consecutive aces by Faville.

The fifth set was 3-3 before the Mules went on another 7-0 run, which featured a kill and block assist each by Jacobs and junior Isabella Pontrelli. Oehler finished off the match with her 12th kill. 

Down a set to Vassar, Muhlenberg trailed 16-11 in the second before flipping the script, eventually tying the set at 17-all. It was 20-19 Vassar when a kill by Pontrelli (pictured above) kicked off a set-ending 6-0 run. Dalton served three aces in the run.

The third set was also tied at 19, and again the Mules finished strong, scoring six of the last nine points. In the fourth set, Muhlenberg closed on a 7-1 run to break open a close set, wrapping up the match with a service ace by freshman Camila Leyes and a Vassar attack error.