NEW YORK, N.Y. – Facing a high level of competition at the New York State Challenge, the Mount Saint Mary College women's volleyball team went 1-3 over two days of play.  The Knights are now 21-11 overall.

The Knights opened play at NYU with a four-set loss to Nazareth.  After losing the opening set (27-25), the Knights claimed set two (25-22).  Nazareth responded with wins in set three (25-19) and set four (25-23).  Senior Mary Ann Raftery (Atlantic Beach, N.Y.) led the Knights with 13 kills and completed a double-double with 17 digs.  Senior Lauren Halverson (Patchogue, N.Y.) posted 30 assists, while freshman Jen Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.) racked up a team-high 23 digs.

In the second match on Friday, the Knights responded with a four-set win over Plattsburgh (21-25, 25-20, 27-25, 25-21).  Raftery tallied 19 kills and 12 digs, while Halverson totaled 35 assists.  Gries had a team-high 28 digs.

Now 1-1, Mount Saint Mary opened Saturday's play with a straight-set loss to NYU (13-25, 21-25, 20-25).  Raftery posted a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs, while Gries led the way with 13 digs.

In the final match of the weekend, the Knights dropped a match in straight sets to Rochester (22-25, 15-25, 15-25).  Freshman Kayla Kurka (Islip, N.Y.) matched Raftery with a team-high nine kills, while Halverson came away with 28 assists.  Raftery also posted a team-high 14 digs.

Mount Saint Mary wraps up the regular season with a trip to Yeshiva University on Monday.  The match is set for an 8:00 p.m. start at the College of New Rochelle.