Lions Down Hilbert; Sperry Reaches 1,000 Digs

ERIE, Pa. – Mary Sperry (Atlantic, PA/Conneaut Lake) tallied nine digs to surpass the 1,000-dig plateau for her career and help the Penn State Behrend past Hilbert 3-0 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) volleyball action on Tuesday night.

The Lions (8-13, 1-2 AMCC) picked up with their first conference win and eighth straight shut-out victory over the Hawks since Hilbert joined the AMCC in 2004. Behrend won in three set, 25-17, 25-11 and 25-11.

In the first set, the Lions jumped ahead 21-13. Sperry tallied two kills and Behrend took advantage of an attack and service error by the Hawks to take an early 1-0 lead.

The Lions did not give Hilbert a chance to compete in the next two sets. Alyssa Pears (Meadville, PA/Meadville) served five straight points to end the set, while Stefanie Kelley (Moon Township, PA/Moon) knocked in two kills and Sarah Jacobs (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) tallied three kills in the final six points.

Behrend opened the third set with a 12-3 run, forcing the Hawks to take a timeout. From there, the Lions only allowed eight more points en route to the victory.

Sperry, only needing three digs to reach the milestone, added nine kills to her nine digs. Jacobs finished with 12 kills and nine digs, while Chelsea Magnusen (Plum, PA/Plum) recorded 31 assists and eight digs.

Jessica Woods (Corry, PA/Corry) continues to lead at the net with a game-high six blocks and Kelley added nine digs and eight kills.

Behrend returns to action on tomorrow at Fredonia St.. Match begins at 7 p.m.