ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's volleyball team defeated No. 6 Pitt-Bradford 3-1 to capture the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship on Sunday afternoon in the Junker Center.
This is the third overall conference championship for the Lions (22-8) and first since 2005. Behrend won the first set 25-23 and then fell 25-10, before claiming the next two sets with an identical score of 25-17 for the title.
The Lions also return to the NCAA Tournament after an eight-year absence, earning the conference's automatic bid. NCAA Regional action kicks off November 15-17.
Alyssa Samarco (Plum, PA/Plum) had a career day with 18 kills, while Chelsea Magnusen (Plum, PA/Plum) had a double-double with 36 assists and 15 digs. Senior Tory Storino (Pittsburgh, PA/Norwin) tallied a game-high 18 digs.
The Panthers (11-20), the first-ever sixth seed to play in a championship match, were led by Taylor McMillen with 13 kills. Kimberly Daughtery added 10 kills and 10 digs.
In championship style, the first set came down to the final two points. The largest lead was four points by Behrend on three occasions. After the Lions called a timeout at 21-20, the last four points they needed came off kills. Lindsay Bean (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) had one and the Samarco recorded the final three for a 25-23 win.
Pitt-Bradford got redemption for its six kills in the first set and hit .455 in the second set to even the match at 1-all with a 25-10 victory.
The Lions went ahead 2-1 with a 25-17 third-set decision.
In the final game and a Behrend lead at 16-14, the Panthers committed a service error and Storino returned with an ace on the next serve to shift the momentum of the set in favor of the Lions. Samarco registered a kill on the next play, forcing Pitt-Bradford to take a timeout at 19-14.
Two errors from the Panthers combined with a kill from Meredith Snyder (Parker, PA/Allegheny Clarion Valley), two kills from Samarco and the final kill by Ashley Solo (Irwin, PA/Penn-Trafford) got the Lions the chance to hoist the championship trophy with a 25-17 victory.
Behrend will await the results of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Selection Show at 11 a.m. Monday morning.
