Women's Volleyball Splits at Northwest PA Challenge

ERIE, Pa. - The Penn State Behrend women's volleyball defeated Oswego State 3-1 (25-19, 25-17, 18-25, 25-19) and fell to St. John Fisher 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-21) on the first day of the 2017 Northwest PA Challenge Tournament held at the Junker Center.

Hannah Saunders (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward) led with Lions (2-4) with 42 assists, 14 digs, 10 kills and five blocks for the pair of matches. Rachel Frye (Leechburg, PA/Kiski) added 19 kills and Alex Parra (Pittsburgh, PA/Bishop Canevin) made nine blocks.

Against Oswego St., Behrend grabbed a two-set lead before falling in the third and finishing the fourth 25-19 for the win. Frye led with 15 kills and Saunders tallied a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs.

Frye grabbed a third of her kill in the first set and Amanda Henry (Bridgeville, PA/South Fayette) posted eight digs for a 25-19 decision. It was Henry's serving and Frye on the attack that gave the Lions a quick 8-2 lead. The Lakers never got closer than four points to fall behind in the match.

The momentum from the first set carried over into the second. Behrend pulled ahead 9-4 to force an Oswego St. timeout. A pair of kills from Parra gave the Lions their largest lead at 20-13 until the end result at 25-18 behind a kill from Keely Hering (North East, PA/North East) for the final point.

Faced with a must-win set, the Lakers did just that to make it 2-1 with a 25-18 score.

The fourth set was closer than the previous three with five ties including the last time at 17-all. Behrend closed out the match on a 7-2 run to avenge a 3-1 loss in the first match of the season at the Morrisville Tournament.

In the opening match of the night, St. John Fisher (5-2) were able to earn a three-set win. Madison Clapper (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg) led with 11 digs. Saunders contributed seven assists, four digs, four kills and four blocks.

The Cardinals tallied 12 kills with two errors in the first set to go up one set at 25-13. With a small 11-9 lead in the second set, St. John Fisher won the next 14 out of 20 points for a 2-0 lead before closing out the third 25-21.

Clapper and Henry each finished with 21 digs on the night for the Lions.

Behrend returns to action on tomorrow against Alfred and Bethany. Matches are at 11 a.m. and 1:15 p.m, respectively.