READING, PA. -- Gwynedd Mercy headed up to Alvernia for a tri-match on Saturday against the host Crusaders and St. Elizabeth but returned home with two defeats. Alvernia won the day's first match over GMercyU, 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, and 25-17). Gwynedd would then fall 3-1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-22, and 25-23) to the Eagles.

In the Alvernia match, GM had trouble offensively, totaling 18 kills, nine of which came from Casey Griffith. She would also add a team-high 17 digs. The team recorded an attack line of 18-18-103 (.000).

Emily Smith led the Crusaders with a match-high 15 kills.

Griffith would continue her assault against St. Elizabeth, racking up a match-high 24 kills, second-most this season and add 20 kills for her 12th double-double. Setter Kerry McGlinn also registered a double-double with 29 assists and 10 digs. Samantha Schearer kicked in four kills and three blocks.

After dropping the first set, the Griffins used a big rally in the second, coming all the way back from a 15-10 deficit to tie it at 20-20. From there, GMercyU notched the next five points to knot things up at 1-1.

The Eagles used a rally of their own in the third, a 10-5 spurt to go up 24-19. The Griffins would net three-straight points of their own, but it wasn't enough in the 25-22 score.  In the fourth, things looked bleak as Gwynedd trailed 24-17, but the team wasn't quite done, rattling off six points in a row to pull within one. St. Elizabeth would get the game-winning point off a service error to close it out.

The Griffins will close out the 2016 season a week from today when they head to Notre Dame of Maryland. Gwynedd was eliminated from postseason contention when Clarks Summit, who has the head-to-head win over GM, defeated Rosemont also on Saturday.