GENEVA, N.Y. – The Union College women's volleyball team split a pair of matches at William Smith College on Saturday afternoon, falling to the host Herons by a 3-1 score in the team's Liberty League finale but coming back to sweep Nazareth University, 3-0, at Bristol Gym.
 
Junior Shannon McGrath led Union (18-8, 4-4 Liberty League) with 20 kills and five service aces on the day, while classmate Georgia Pool recorded a team-leading 34 digs in seven sets. Sophomore Maddie McCarron chipped in six kills and eight blocks on the afternoon as well.
 
Despite the loss to the Herons, Union still finishes the conference slate in a three-way tie for fourth place and as a result will host the first round of the Liberty League Tournament on Tuesday, November 12 against fifth-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology.
 
William Smith 3, Union 1 (25-15, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19)
 
McGrath paced the Garnet Chargers with 10 kills in the first match of the day, but Union ran up against a tough Herons squad that put down 57 kills on .222 hitting to take the victory.
 
McGrath posted a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs, and first-year Allie Kronenberg added a double-double of her own with 24 assists and 10 digs. Sophomore Shelby McKim hit .417 with six kills on 12 attacks and McCarron put down five kills and four blocks as well for the visitors.
 
Union hung with the Herons for much of the first set before the home team finished with a 9-1 run to take an early lead. The Garnet Chargers came back with .265 hitting in the second set to even the score, closing with seven straight points to turn a 19-18 deficit into a 25-19 win.
 
The Herons eked out the critical third set to take a 2-1 lead. Union led by as many as four at 15-11 after back-to-back kills from first-year Georgia Pinciaro, but the Herons scored five straight points to take back the lead. The set was eventually tied at 23-all before a WSC kill and a Union error ended the frame.
 
Union started the fourth set on a 5-1 run, but an extended 17-5 run put William Smith in control of the set and the match.
 
Union 3, Nazareth 0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-14)
 
Union did not trail after the opening point in any of the three sets against the Golden Flyers, finishing the day with a quick sweep.
 
McGrath again had 10 kills to lead the team, followed by sophomore Graciela Escobar with seven kills on red-hot .700 hitting and senior Farah Elgala with six kills on 15 errorless swings. Pool recorded a match-best 23 digs and Kronenberg registered 27 assists to help the Garnet Chargers to a win.
 
Union scored six straight points to take an early lead in the opening set, and the team grew its lead to as many as 10 at 14-4 before cruising the rest of the way. The second set followed a similar script, with nine straight points putting the Garnet Chargers out in front early on the way to a two-set lead. Union hit an impressive .542 in the middle stanza, putting down 16 kills with three errors on only 24 attempts.
 
Union finished off the match by hitting .225 with 15 kills in the third set, building up an early 12-4 advantage and allowing the Golden Flyers to score consecutive points only three times the rest of the way.
 
Union will have one more weekend to tuneup before the postseason, beginning on Friday night with a 6 p.m. match at Western New England University.