#6 Penn State Behrend upsets #3 Grove City in four close sets
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The opening round of the ECAC Volleyball Tournament saw Penn State Behrend come away with a 3-1 upset win over Grove City on Saturday afternoon. All three sets the Lions won ended up with identical 26-24 scores, with the Wolverines taking the third set by a tally of 25-22.
The Lions took a tight opening set by a final of 26-24, with Brooke Joncas and Hannah Phillips combining for nine kills. Penn State Behrend hit .300 for the set and picked up an ace from four different players, surviving a late Grove City rally to hold on for the first 26-24 set win of the day and a 1-0 lead.
Building on the momentum from the first set, Penn State Behrend got out to an early lead in the second, but the Wolverines stayed within striking distance. Grove City eventually pulled even at 21, again at 22, once more at 23, and yet again at 24, but a GCC service error and a Breana Reynolds kill finished off the second set with another 26-24 score.
Grove City led for the bulk of the third set, but the Lions stormed back to tie it up at 15 on a setting error. The two teams exchanged points for the next few minutes, but the Wolverines finally went in front 20-19 and would ultimately hold on for their first set win of the tournament.
The Wolverines came out on fire in the fourth set, jumping out to a 13-3 lead that made the looming fifth set seem inevitable. Down 24-18, however, Penn State Behrend rattled off the biggest 8-0 run of the season, taking advantage of four Grove City errors while adding a pair of aces in the final stretch to advance to Sunday afternoon.
Phillips, Joncas and Breana Reynolds went for 17, 13 and 10 kills respectively, while Meg Goodsel cleared 40 assists for the fourth time this fall. Five Lions got into double-figures in digs, while Phillips matched teammate Kelli Hoffer with a match-high 24 to round out her 13th double-double of the season.
Anna DeGraaf and freshman Bella Costa led the way offensively for Grove City, picking up 10 kills apiece. Kennedy Kerr and Brooklyn Wirebaugh combined for 40 assists, and Gabby Lucas recorded a team-high 20 digs.
The Lions now advance to take on 2-seed Cabrini in Sunday afternoon’s quarterfinal matchup, with first serve slated for 12:00 p.m. To view the complete path to the ECAC Championship, head to ECACSports.com.