Women's Volleyball Advances to AMCC Semifinals; Lions Sweep La Roche

ERIE, Pa. – The No. 3 Penn State Behrend women's volleyball team swept No. 6 La Roche 3-0 in the first round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championships in the Junker Center on Wednesday night.

Final Score: Penn State Behrend 3, La Roche 0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-20)
Records: Penn State Behrend (13-17), La Roche (11-11)

Key Moments:

* The Behrend Lions used identical scores in each set to advance to the AMCC Semifinals on Saturday against No. 2 Penn State Altoona
* The Lions registered 14 kills in the first set and held the Redhawks to just six kills for the 1-0 lead in the match
* Behrend faced an early deficit at 6-3 but Sara Nobach (Athens, MI/Athens) put the Lions ahead at 8-6 with six straight serves and two aces
* Two attack errors and a kill from Cadence Jones (North East, PA/North East) and Brynne Smith (Butler, PA/Knoch) sealed the first-set victory
* Behrend never trailed in the second, taking a commanding 9-1 lead to start
* Jones led with seven of the teams 12 kills while getting a pair of aces to help the Lions to a 2-0 lead
* The third set was similar to the first with La Roche grabbing the lead on two occasions and tying the score on five
* Nobach's serves broke a 9-all tie for a 14-9 lead
* The Redhawks got within one at 20-19, however, Behrend won the next five out of six points thanks to an ace from Jones and a pair of kills from Alani Salas-Garcia (Jacksonville, FL/Mandarin)
* Jones cranked out her 13^th double-double with a match-high 16 kills and 13 digs
* Jones is now 19 kills away from breaking the program record for single-season kills 
* Smith dished out 33 assists, and Salas-Garcia added eight kills and nine digs
* Sydney Petko (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) had a match-high four aces and Hannah Smith (Harborcreek, PA/Harbor Creek) hit .400 on seven kills

Up Next:

* Behrend battles No. 2 Altoona at Alfred State on Saturday. Match time is 4:30 p.m.