ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's volleyball team earned its fourth straight and third Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) win with a thrilling five-set victory over Medaille on Wednesday night in the Junker Center.
It was a see-saw battle between the conference foes, with the Lions (9-5, 3-0 AMCC) taking a 2-1 lead in the match after dropping the first set, 25-17. Behrend won 25-19 and 28-26 in the second and third set, respectively. The Mavericks (3-10, 2-1 AMCC) came from behind to take the fourth set, 25-23, and the Lions won the decisive set, 15-13.
Alyssa Pears (Meadville, PA/Meadville) led Behrend with 14 kills, including seven in the crucial third set. She also added nine digs and two aces. Tory Storino (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) had a game-high 32 digs.
Medaille's Meghan Fahy, the AMCC Preseason Player of the Year, led all players with22 kills and six blocks. Setter Simmone Talford dished out a game-best 53 assists and four aces.
In the second set, Pears stretched the Lions 4-3 lead to 12-3 on eight straight serves. The Mavericks used a run of their own to get within four at 23-19, but an attack error and ace by Catherine Healy (Connellsville, PA/Connellsville) secured the win.
With nine ties in the third set, Pears registered three consecutive kills to keep Behrend in the game. At 26-all, Pears got the point before serving the set point and getting the ace for the 2-1 edge in the match.
Medaille, down by six points, rallied back to send the match into a fifth set thanks to four aces from Talford and five kills by Susan Muldoon.
In the fifth set, back-to-back kills by Healy gave Behrend a two-point lead at 13-11. A service error and kill by Fahy knotted the game at 13-all. The next point was an attack error and Pears tallied her 14th kill of the night to keep the Lions undefeated in conference play.
Chelsea Magnusen (Plum, PA/Plum) handed out 46 assists on 48 total kills, while Mary Sperry (Atlantic, PA/Conneaut Lake) was second on the team with 21 digs and 10 kills.
The Lions are back in action on Tuesday at Hilbert. Match begins at 7 p.m.
