PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Marauders traveled to the City of Brotherly Love to take on Jefferson University Wednesday night and were defeated by the Rams 3-2.  Coach Brian Smith decided to give his regulars a rest in the first set but went to a more familiar lineup for the rest of the non-conference affair. After dropping that first set, the Marauders took the next two but couldn't capture the victory in sets four or five. 
 
First-year Dani Suter made her collegiate debut as a starter in the first set. Madison McKenzie and Sam White each recorded two kills, but the rest of the set went firmly in Jefferson's favor. Biting the Marauders in the foot were attack errors, evidenced by their ghastly -.158 hitting percentage in the bout. 
 
Smith returned to his regulars for set two. After trading points early on, the hosts went on a five-point run to go up 11-6. Millersville kept it much closer than the first set, however, with kills from Emma Kerwin, Taylor Welter and Caroline Halsey. Alex Nava chipped in three putaways as well, including two in a row to set off a six-point 'Ville run that cut the Ram lead to one (21-20). 
 
The visitors kept at it, eventually forcing the game to overtime. Timely tallies in overtime forced the score up to 28-27 in favor of Millersville. A Ram attack error gave the second set to the Marauders. 
 
The Rams ripped off four straight points to begin the crucial third set and poured it on until Smith called a timeout down 8-2. His young team responded immediately, claiming eight of the next 11 points and causing a Jefferson timeout down 11-10. They took their first lead up 15-14 on the strength of a four-point run. 
 
The Marauders eventually put some distance between themselves and their foes with a 6-1 spurt that featured two Halsey kills and multiple Ram errors. A swat from Welter finished the set in their favor, 25-21.
 
The teams battled early on and neither team took a significant lead until the Rams did just that, scoring seven straight to claim a 15-9 advantage. They held Millersville at bay for the rest of the game to force a deciding fifth set. 
 
Jefferson gained a three-point edge (7-4) over Millersville in the final set, causing a Smith timeout. The Marauders answered back with kills from Kerwin and Welter to cut into the Ram lead but the Rams were undeterred. The hosts won five of the last six points to claim the victory and shut the door on the Marauders. 

The Marauders are back in action when they travel to East Stroudsburg to take on the Warriors on Nov. 3. 

COACH BRIAN SMITH'S THOUGHTS

• On the lineup decision: "We discussed with the team on Monday that we planned on starting some players who haven't seen much playing time. There were a handful of reasons I wanted to see them play, one of which was to give them an opportunity. We are looking at the big picture to finish the season. It would have been nice had we not had to return to our starting lineup to rest up, but out of respect for the game and our opponent, we needed to compete."
• On the next two weeks: "It's critical we win the Kutztown, Bloomsburg and Lock Haven matches. Most of our focus is on the Saturday match at Kutztown.  It's tough as we travel all the way to ESU Friday for a 7 pm match, so we'll likely not be back at Millersville until midnight. It'll be a quick turnaround to travel back to Kutztown. We want to finish playing hard no matter the outcome."

• This is the seventeenth meeting between these programs, as they have played each other nearly every season since 2008. In those matches, Millersville holds a slight edge with a 9-8 record. 

• The Marauders hit -.158 in the first set, by far their worst in a single set of the year. The Rams hit .273, leading to the scoreboard differential. 
• With the debut of Dani Suter, there remains just one Marauder yet to see action this season. Verespy, McKenzie and Corso all made their second appearances of the season in set one.