Behrend Women's Volleyball Takes Houghton; Falls to Fredonia

FREDONIA, NY – The Penn State Behrend women's volleyball team split a pair of non-conference matches on Saturday, falling to the hosts Fredonia Blue Devils and defeating the Houghton Highlanders.

Match One:
Final Score: Fredonia 3, Penn State Behrend 1 (25-21, 16-25, 25-18, 32-30)
Records: Penn State Behrend (4-13), Fredonia (6-11)

Key Moments:

* In the battle of the I-90 teams, Fredonia fought off five match points to edge Behrend 32-30 in the fourth set to collect the win
* The Lions had five chances to force a fifth set
* The Blue Devils won the final three points on a kill, attack error and then ace to earn their sixth win
* After falling behind 25-21 in the first set, Behrend tied it at 1-all with a convincing 25-16 set-two decision
* The Lions broke a 10-all tie in the second set with a 11-2 run to take a commanding 21-12 lead
* Fredonia committed nine attack errors, including the final two points for the nine-point victory for Behrend
* The Blue Devils only had seven service aces but got them in crucial moments in the match
* Fredonia closed out the final two sets with aces to hold off the Lions
* Cadence Jones (North East, PA/North East) tallied another double-double with a team-best 13 kills and 10 digs
* The freshman also hit .265 for the first match
* Brynne Smith (Butler, PA/Knoch) added 25 assists and libero Sara Nobach (Athens, MI/Athens) managed 12 digs

Match Two:
Final Score: Penn State Behrend 3, Houghton 0 (26-24, 27-25, 21-25)
Records: Penn State Behrend (5-13), Houghton (3-8)

* Behrend won in dramatic fashion in the first two sets, taking it to extra points and avenging the fourth-set loss in the first match of the day
* Houghton stayed in the match by winning the third set
* In the fourth set, the Lions grabbed a 13-7 lead  behind service aces from Sydney Petko (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) and then a pair of kills from Olivia Swinarski (Harborcreek, PA/Harbor Creek)
* Behrend went on a 12-8 run to close out the fourth set and win the match
* The Lions had a team attack percentage of .252, led by 16 kills from Jones and 36 assists from B. Smith
* Jones got her third straight double-double with 13 digs to go with her kills
* Swinarski finished with 11 kills and Hannah Smith (Harborcreek, PA/Harbor Creek) tallied seven kills

Up Next:

* Behrend returns to action on Wednesday night against John Carroll in the Junker Center. Match begins at 7 p.m.