The Misericordia University volleyball team dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision at Stevens in the MAC Freedom championship match, Saturday.

Down 2-0, the Cougars won two straight and led for much of the fifth set until the Ducks rallied late.

Cassandra Genduso led the Cougars with 17 kills and Meghan Peters added 11 kills.

Jenna Schuda had 39 assists, 16 digs and four blocks and Keira McCaffrey had five blocks and three aces.

Stevens never trailed in the first two sets as the Ducks cruised to a pair of 25-13 wins.

The Cougars regrouped and took a 3-2 lead in the third set on back-to-back kills by Madison Tullo.

Sarah Journey had three straight aces as the Cougars scored six consecutive points to go in front for good, 17-10.

The Ducks never got closer than six points the rest of the way and the Cougars stayed alive with a 25-18 win.

MU never trailed in the fourth set and won 25-22 to force a fifth set.

McCaffrey and Schuda had kills combined with two Stevens' errors as the Cougars took an 8-5 lead.

Peters had two kills as Misericordia stretched its lead to 12-8.

Another kill by Peters put MU ahead, 13-10, but the Ducks ended the match on a 6-1 spurt to claim the MAC Freedom title.

The Cougars finished their first season under head coach Colleen Stengel at 25-9.