Volleyball Splits on Day Two of Invitational; Snyder, Hopson All-Tournament Team

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's volleyball team split a pair of matches on the second day of the 2014 Behrend Invitational on Saturday afternoon in the Junker Center.

The Lions (10-2) fell in the opener to Westminster (6-5) in four sets 21-25-, 25-13, 25-23, 26-24, before defeating Morrisville State 3-0 (25-19. 25-15, 25-16). Meredith Snyder (Parker, PA/Allegheny Clarion Valley) and libero Courtney Hopson (Erie, PA/McDowell) were named to the All-Tournament Team for Behrend.

Snyder recorded 25 assists, 11 kills and 10 digs in the two matches today, while Hopson tallied 29 digs and three aces.

Against the Mustangs, the Lions held Morrisville State to just 17 kills for the shut-out victory. Lindsay Bean (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) hit .667 with 11 kills on 15 attempts. Alyssa Samarco (Plum, PA/Plum) added 11 digs, four kills and one ace.

With a one-point lead at 15-14, Behrend got consecutive aces by Ashley Solo (Irwin, PA-Penn Trafford) to bump the score to 19-14. Four different players registered kills in the final six points to help the Lions go ahead 1-0 with a 25-19 win.

Behrend kept a good lead in the second set, winning by eight points on five occasions before a double-digit advantage down the stretch thanks to the Mustangs attack errors and then securing the set on a Bean kill at 25-15.

Snyder and Hopson helped the Lions in the third set to pull away. With a four-point edge, Snyder tallied a kill and Hopson served two aces for a 16-9 lead. Behrend got its final three points on errors for the match.

In the first match of the day, the Titans had three players in double-digit kills and five players with double-digit digs to get revenge from a 3-2 loss to Behrend earlier in the season. Alaura Hanssen led with 14 kills, while Tournament MVP Kassie Freyermuth added a game-high 19 digs, nine kills and seven blocks.

Samarco led Behrend with 21 digs and 10 kills. Hannah Saunders (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward) handed out 28 assists to go with four digs, two kills and two aces.

The Lions did not trail in the first set and relied on Samaraco's two kills in the final five points for a 25-21 win. That first set woke up the Titans and sparked a 25-13 victory to bring the match to a 1-all tie. In the third set, Behrend held the lead the entire set until an attack error gave Wesminster the lead for good which resulted in a 25-23 decision.

The fourth set was similar to the third with the Lions leading until the very end. The Titans got four straight points to take a 23-22 lead, before Lauren Blachowski (Newtown, PA/Council Rock North) tied it with a kill. Kendell Dickson and Snyder exchanged kills to keep it even, but a kill by Hanssen and Lexi Yoho finished the match, 26-24.

Behrend returns to action on Tuesday at Grove City, beginning at 6:30 p.m.