Volleyball Advances to AMCC Semifinals; Lions Defeat Franciscan, 3-1

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's volleyball team advances to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) semifinals after defeating Franciscan 3-1 in the first round of the conference tournament at the Junker Center on Tuesday night.

The Lions (15-15) went ahead 1-0 in the match, before giving up the second set and then winning the final two to post their second win over the Barons (12-13) this season. Behrend won 25-22, 20-25, 25-18 and 25-21.

Stefanie Kelley (Moon Township, PA/Moon) had her second-best dig total on the year with 31 tonight. She also added three kills and two aces. Mary Sperry (Atlantic, PA/Conneaut Lake) helped with 12 kills and 14 digs in the four-set match.

With the match tied at 1-all, the Lions came out in the third set determined and showed it by winning the first eight points. Franciscan won the next seven out of nine points to trim the lead, but Kelley served up five straight points, including an ace, to make it 18-8. The Barons' second comeback was halted thanks to a kill by Chelsea Magnusen (Plum, PA/Plum) at 20-16 in favor of Behrend. Four Franciscan attack errors and a Jessica Woods (Corry, PA/Corry) kill sealed the win, 25-18.

The fourth set started much like the third. The Lions opened with an 11-1 lead and never looked back for the victory, although the Barons never backed down towards the end to cut the deficit to 22-19. Kelley and Alyssa Pears (Meadville, PA/Meadville) collected the final offensive points for the Lions to make it 25-21.

Magnusen finished with 26 assists, six kills and a .545 hitting percentage.

Behrend will travel to Penn State Altoona on Friday to face the No. 1 seeded Lions at 6 p.m. in the first semifinal.