CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The FDU-Florham volleyball team dropped a thrilling five-set match to DeSales University 3-2 (25-23, 18-25, 25-20, 21-25, 9-15) but secured the third seed in the upcoming MAC Freedom Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday night.

The Devils (21-12, 4-3 MAC Freedom) claimed a tight first set by two points and held a 2-1 lead before the Bulldogs (20-9, 6-1 MAC Freedom) overcame a six-point deficit in the fourth set and won the decisive fifth frame.

With the loss, the Devils fell into the third spot in the four-team MAC Freedom Tournament and will face off against the Bulldogs in a rematch next Wednesday, November 4 at 7:00 p.m in the semifinals. With a win, the Devils would have hosted the match but instead will now return to Bilera Hall. In the other semifinal matchup, Misericordia University will travel to St. Davids, Pa. to take on top-seeded and nationally-ranked Eastern University.

The first set saw a 23-all tie before a Kristi Wong kill and an attack error by the Bulldogs resulted in a 25-23 Devils victory. Wong dished out 14 assists, with five kills and eight digs on the night. In that first set, the Devils registered a .242 attack percentage, which accounted for their highest success rate of the night.

In the second set, the Bulldogs found the rhythm and won the set comfortably by scoring the final five points.

The Devils responded by claiming the third set led by sophomore outside hitter Melissa Gaffney, who clocked 10 kills on the night.

With Codi Inloes-Williams serving, the Devils stormed out to a 7-0 lead in the fourth set and looked poised to close out the match, however, the Bulldogs eventually erased the deficit and forced a fifth set.

In the final set of the night, the Devils jumped out to a 3-0 lead. But the Bulldogs countered again and scored the final five points of the night to seal the win.

DeSales was led by Gabby Savite' 24 kills, Jess Swansons' 12-kill effort, while Lisa Wallitsch totaled a match-best 59 assists.

Inloes-Williams set up the Devils attack with 23 assists and Lauren Harris posted a team-high 12 kills.