ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's volleyball team punched their ticket to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) title match with a 3-0 win over fifth-seeded Pitt-Bradford 3-0 in the semifinals on Saturday at the Junker Center.
The Lions (19-8) were able to defeat the Panthers (10-23) for the second time this season to get one win away from capturing their third AMCC crown. Behrend swept Pitt-Bradford 25-21, 26-24 and 25-20, while No. 2 Medaille posted a 3-1 decision over No. 3 Franciscan in the second semifinal.
The Lions and Mavericks will square off in the championship match tomorrow at 1 p.m. Behrend handed Medaille a 3-2 loss in the only meeting this season on Sept. 26.
Catherine Healy (Connellsville, PA/Connellsville) was near perfect with one error on 14 kills and 28 attempts for a .464 attack percentage. Chelsea Magnusen (Plum, PA/Plum) dished out 34 assists and had three aces.
In the first set, the Lions managed to jump out to a 10-3 lead on two kills by Healy and five attack errors on the Panthers. Pitt-Bradford won the next seven out of nine points to get within two at 12-10, but Behrend used kills by Ashley Solo (Irwin, PA/Penn-Trafford), Lindsay Bean (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBeouf), Sperry and Healy to move ahead 18-13 and force the Panthers to take their final timeout.
Pitt-Bradford stayed in the set and pulled within two points once again at 22-20. Another error and two kills from Healy gave the Lions a 25-21 victory.
With the second set tied at 19-all, the Panthers went on a 4-1 run for a 23-20 lead and two points away from tying up the match. Back-to-back kills from Magnusen and an ace by Alyssa Pears (Meadville, PA/Meadville) knotted the set at 23-all. On the next point, Taylor McMillen registered a kill for Pitt-Bradford, but Healy responded with consecutive kills and Ariana Rosario-Fuste (San Juan, Puerto Rico/University) closed the set with an ace for a thrilling 26-24 win.
Behrend had to rally back in the third after Pitt-Bradford opened the set with a 7-2 start. The Lions closed the gap and took the lead for good on a kill by Healy at 17-16. Bean knocked down her seventh kill of the match for the final point at 25-20.
Tory Storino (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) tallied a match-best 20 digs and Mary Sperry (Atlantic, PA/Conneaut Lake) added 15 digs and eight kills.
McMillen finished with a team-high 16 kills for the Panthers.
The Lions are appearing in their 10th AMCC finals in the 16-year history of the conference.
