The women’s volleyball team was riding high heading into the AMCC Tournament this past Wednesday. Luckily, they were able to build off of their half-season hot streak to capture their fourth AMCC Championship in program history. The Lions captured consecutive 3-0 match victories against Mt. Aloysius and Pitt-Bradford, respectively, before capping off the weekend with a 3-2 match win against La Roche en route to an AMCC Title.

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Behrend was able to handle the Mt. Aloysius Mounties pretty easily at home, winning the match in straight sets by scores of 25-17, 25-12, and 25-17. The first game was nip and tuck until Behrend was able to score eight out of the last nine points to claim the victory. After dominating the second game, Behrend again won a back and forth battle in the third game by eight points. Alex Parra led the Lions with 11.5 points, including eight kills. Leading up the pass for Behrend were Amanda Henry and Rachel Frye, who had 10.5 points and 10 points, as well as 11 digs and nine kills, respectively.

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In the semi-final match, Behrend took on the Pitt-Bradford Panthers on the road. Behrend controlled play throughout most of the match, again winning the match in straight sets, this time by scores of 25-14, 25-20, and 25-16. The second game was very close after Behrend got out to an early 4-0 lead, but the Panthers were never able to fully recover from the early deficit. Game three was very competitive until Emily Cleveland (Pitt-Bradford) committed a service error at the time the score was 15-12 in favor of Behrend. From that point came seven consecutive Behrend points, some coming from Pitt-Bradford errors and others coming in the form of Behrend kills. Rachel Frye again led the charge for the Lions with 10 points on 10 kills. Hannah Saunders likewise stepped up for Behrend with 28 out of the Lions’ 31 assists. Amanda Henry was additionally a valuable player for Behrend in the match, scoring nine and one-half points on nine kills and six digs.

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The Behrend Lions engaged in a showdown with the La Roche Redhawks for the AMCC Championship this past Sunday, and it was certainly phenomenal match. Behrend, after falling to a 2-1 set deficit, had to make a ferocious comeback in the final two sets to gain the AMCC crown. Behrend was able to capture the first set by six points, only to lose the next two sets by a combined 10 points. In the fourth and fifth sets, Behrend gained consecutive eight-point victories by scores of 25-17 and 15-7, respectively. In a very entertaining and, at times, heart-stopping match, Amanda Henry again stepped up to the plate for the Lions, leading the team with 22.5 total points, 25 digs, and 20 kills. Madison Clapper kept her team in the match as well, gaining 24 digs. Rachel Frye scored 12 points on 12 digs and 12 kills, and Emily Archer compiled eight points on eight kills.   

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This is the Lions’ fourth AMCC Championship in program history, as mentioned, and their first since 2013. The Lions get an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament. They will take on Wittenberg on November 10 in the first round of the tournament.