Hiram Near Flawless in Win over Lions

ERIE, Pa. – The Hiram women's volleyball team hit .448, only committing four errors in three sets to defeat Penn State Behrend 3-0 in non-conference action on Tuesday night.

The Terriers (8-1) managed a 25-21, 25-16 and 25-12 victory to halt the Lions (8-1) eight-match winning streak. Lindsay Brewer had a .519 attack percentage with a team-high 15 kills on 27 attempts. Claire Maier dished out 44 assists, while Jennifer Yardas posted a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs for Hiram.

Alyssa Samarco (Plum, PA/Plum), the current Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Athlete of the Week, paced Behrend with 13 digs and eight kills.  Hannah Saunders (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward) was the staple at the setter positon with 27 assists on 35 kills.

The Terriers never trailed in all three games, narrowly getting by the Lions in the first set. Samarco's ace pulled Behrend within two points at 22-20. Hiram took advantage of three errors to take a 1-0 lead in the match, 25-21.

Hiram used a final push in the second set to go from a 16-14 lead to win 25-16 with a 9-2 run to go ahead 2-0. With no errors in the third set, the Terriers collected 11 kills including three straight to take a 16-7 lead. Hiram only allowed five more points to capture the match for the eighth win of the season.

Allania Banta (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) finished with nine digs and Paige Scurpa (Sharpsville, PA/Sharpsville) added seven kills, four digs and two aces.

The Lions return to action on Friday for the Behrend Invitational, facing D'Youville at 5 p.m.