AMCC

#1 PENN ST. BEHREND, #2 ALFRED STATE TO MEET IN AMCC TITLE MATCH

#1 PENN ST. BEHREND, #2 ALFRED STATE TO MEET IN AMCC TITLE MATCH

#1 Penn State Behrend and #2 Alfred State College each earned victories in the AMCC Championship Tournament Semifinal round to advance to the championship match tomorrow afternoon. The Behrend Lions defeated #4 Pitt-Bradford 3-0, while #2 Alfred State College also picked up a 3-0 victory over #3 Penn State Altoona.

Penn State Behrend 3, Pitt-Bradford 0
The top-seeded Penn State Behrend women's volleyball team blanked #4 Pitt-Bradford 3-0 on Saturday to advance to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship match. The Lions defeated the Panthers for the second time this season by a score of 3-0. Behrend held Pitt-Bradford to its lowest kill output since Sept. 4 (24). Kristin Reiland attributed to Behrend's 43 kills, knocking in a match-high 14. Reiland hit .423 and added nine digs and four blocks assists. In the first set, Reiland tallied seven kills to get the Lions ahead in the match with a 27-25 win. Down 25-24, Sarah Cole and Reiland registered kills for set point and an attack error from Pitt-Bradford put Behrend up 1-0. The Lions never trailed in the second set, taking their largest lead at the end (25-17). Down the stretch, the Panthers had four errors followed by a kill from Reiland and Brooke Joncas to extend the lead to 2-0 in the match. Leading 18-13 in the third match, Pitt-Bradford had four points taken away due to out of rotation to give the Lions a 19-9 lead and the serve.  A dump kill from setter Dani Kosslow secured the win at 25-12. Kosslow managed 37 assists, nine digs and two aces. Maddie Clapper posted double-digit digs with 15, including seven digs in the second set.

Alfred State 3, Penn State Altoona 0
The Alfred State volleyball team won a back and forth battle 25-20, 27-25, 25-19 over Penn State Altoona in the AMCC Semifinals on Saturday afternoon. In the opening set, ASC jumped out to an early lead and never let the Lions back into the set. The second set swung back and forth. Alfred State trailed 24-22 but tied it up with a pair of points. Trailing 25-24, Kiara Perkins sandwiched a pair of kills in between a kill by Alyssa Martin to take the two set lead. In set three, the blue & gold trailed 13-9 but won six straight points to take a 15-13 lead. Altoona scored the next two points but a kill by Keturah Gregory followed by a kill by Martin gave Alfred State a lead they would never give back up. The Pioneers got a solid team effort. Five players finished with seven or more kills and three had more than 10 digs. Karleigh Haines led the team with nine kills and 13 digs while Perkins finished with nine kills and 12 digs. Gregory chipped in with eight kills while Martin and Faith McCombs each had seven kills. The Pioneers hit .278 for the game including hitting .350 in the third set. Nayomie Ferrer passed out 35 assists and accumulated nine digs and five kills. Emma Petrichick led the team with 20 digs and Becca Brown recorded four of the team's nine service aces.

Penn State Behrend and Alfred State will square off in the AMCC Finals tomorrow at 1 p.m. The match will be played at the Penn State Behrend Junker Center in Erie, PA with the winner earning the automatic bid to the NCAA DIII National Tournament.