FREDERICK, Md.--The Hood College volleyball team (3-4) suffered a heartbreaking defeat to the visiting Mt. Aloysius College Mounties (3-5) in five sets, 25-23, 13-25, 24-26, 25-18, 13-15, Friday evening at Gambrill Gymnasium.

After the Mounties ripped off the first five points of the set, the Blazers came right back to outscore Mt. Aloysius, 7-1, forcing the visitors to call timeout. The set would see six more ties before the Blazers took the lead for good at 15-14 on an ace by Theresa Schwarzwalder. Hood closed out the first set on a kill by Amy Hagerdon.

The Blazers were the ones to take control early in set number two, but the Mounties turned the tables on the Blazers with a 10-1 run to assume a 10-5 lead, capped by an ace from Mariah McDowell. Hood was unable to recover in the frame as the Mounties knotted the match at 1-1 by clinching a 25-13 win capped by a Lauren Oldham kill.

The third set was a nip-and-tuck affair as neither team was able to stretch its lead beyond four points. Trailing 17-13, the Blazers got the sideout after a Mountie serving error, then used a pair of aces by Ashley Whaley and a kill by Hagerdon to tie the set at 17-17. Later in the set, the Mounties snapped a 20-20 tie with four straight points to claim a set point. But Hood wouldn't back down and rallied to deny the Mounties four set points and tied the frame at 24-24 following a solo block by Hayley Rogers. Mt. Aloysius took a timeout and got the sideout when play resumed after another McDowell kill. McDowell and Oldham clinched the 26-24 win with blocks to give Mt. Aloysius a 2-1 lead in the contest.

Hood controlled the fourth set virtually wire-to-wire and sent the match into a decisive fifth set following a kill by Brittany Lethbridge. In the fifth set, it was all Hood early as the Blazers jumped out to a 3-0 lead. The Mounties rallied to tie the set at 5-5 on a Blazer attack error. Hood maintained the upperhand for the majority of the set before the Mounties tied the score at 12-12 on another Blazer attack error. The two teams traded kills on the next two exchanges to make it 13-13. In the end it was Oldham who came up with two huge plays when it mattered most for Mt. Aloysius as she blocked a Blazer attempt and put the match away with her fifth kill of the match, giving the set to the Mounties, 15-13.

Rogers had an impressive showing, posting 16 kills and four blocks for the Blazers. Keesha Fields finished with nine kills and a team-high 21 digs while Hagerdon finished with seven kills, 42 assists, four aces and 14 digs. Lethbridge notched seven kills and had eight digs, while Alyssa Eshleman smacked seven kills to go along with 11 digs. Ashley Whaley smacked four kills, set up five others and had six digs while Schwarzwalder, Hood's libero, dug out 17 balls and served a pair of aces.

Hood's second Capital Athletic Conference test of the season comes Tuesday when the Blazers travel to Frostburg State University for a 7 p.m. match.