The second-ranked Colorado College volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday at the 2018 WashU Invitational, beginning the day with a hard-fought win over the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh before falling to No. 11 Washington University in a five-set thriller in the tournament finale.

The Bears appeared to be on their way to a sweep after scoring five of the last six points to take the second set, but CC staged a furious comeback to level the match at two sets apiece before WashU escaped with a 25-15, 25-22, 18-25, 17-25, 15-11 victory.

The fifth set was knotted at 8-8 following back-to-back kills by junior outside hitter Haley Harris, however the Bears answered with five consecutive points, the final three on blocked shots. After kills by Harris and junior middle hitter Marguerite Spaethling trimmed CC's deficit to 13-10, WashU scored two of the next three points to close out the match.

The second set proved to be the turning point in the match, and unfortunately it didn't end in favor of the Tigers.

CC, which was playing its fourth match in less than 24 hours, had a 21-20 lead after a kill by Spaethling. Three consecutive hitting errors gave the Bears a 24-21 lead, and after a kill by junior setter Lizzy Counts, Michaela Bach closed out the set for Washington University.

Spaethling led the Tigers with 17 kills and earned a spot on the all-tournament team.

Counts also was an all-tournament selection after producing 45 assists, 12 digs and six kills.

Sophomore outside hitter Allie Freeburg reached double-digit kills for the first time this season with 15, while Harris finished with 10.

Junior libero Anna Gurolnick had a match-high 21 digs, her second match with 20 or more this year.

Julianne Malek led the Bears with 16 kills, while Ifeoma Ufondu added 15.

Leila King had a hand in 12 of WashU's 19 blocked shots.

In the 25-23, 25-13, 25-23 win over UW-Oshkosh, Spaethling led the Tigers with a match-high 13 kills. She hit .400 with only one error on 30 attacks.

Freshman outside hitter Isabella Vasquez recorded double-figure kills for the fifth time this season, finishing the match with 10.

Freeburg added five kills on 15 swings without an error for CC.

Gurolnick led Colorado College with 18 digs, while Myca Steffey-Bean had a hand in four blocked shots.

UW-Oshkosh led early in the first set and then overcame a three-point deficit to take a 16-15 lead. However, the Tigers answered with three consecutive points and never trailed again. After the Titans leveled the score at 23-23, CC put the set away with kills from Steffey-Bean and freshman opposite hitter Laney Swan.

In the second set, Colorado College snapped a 7-7 tie with an 8-3 surge. UWO answered with a pair of points to get to within five points, but the Tigers scored 10 of the next 11 points to take a two-set lead.

Midway through the third set, CC snapped a 15-15 tie with a 7-2 outburst. The Titans leveled the scored six of the next seven points to tie the score at 23-23, only to see the Tigers close out the match on a Spaethling kill and a UWO hitting error.   

Tina Elstner led the Titans with nine kills, while Kendall Enyart finished with eight on 15 attempts with just one error.

Katie Hodges had a team-high 12 digs.

The Tigers reached the 20-win mark for the 16th consecutive season and finished the day with a 20-2 record.

Colorado College resumes Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action next week when the Tigers host crossover matches at Reid Arena. The Tigers face Southwestern University and Austin College on Friday, Oct. 12, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, and then Centenary College at 2 p.m. Saturday.