After splitting four matches in the Morrisville State Tournament in the weekend prior, the Lions faced off against four more tough opponents in the Northwest Pennsylvania (NW PA) Challenge on Friday and Saturday. Again they split their four matches, claiming two solid victories on the first day and suffering narrow defeats on the second. This brings their overall record on the season to 4-4 as they begin regular match play.

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On the first day of the NW PA Challenge, the Lions started the tournament with a clean sweep of the St. Vincent Bearcats. The first set saw the Lions and Bearcats go into an extra-point set. Behrend ultimately prevailed by a 31-29 score after a set-winning kill by Alex Parra. Behrend won the next two sets pretty handily, beating the Bearcats by deficits of 9 and 7, respectively. Senior Amanda Henry led the way for the Lions with 17 points on 15 kills and nine digs, while sophomore Keely Hering mustered nine points on nine kills and 14 digs.

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Also on Friday, the Lions pulled out a 3-1 match victory over the Marietta Pioneers after four evenly matched sets. After a back and forth first set, Henry scored the winning kill and sealed a 1-0 match lead. Marietta came back with a three-point win in the second set, only to fall short on a comeback in the third set after being down ten. The Lions then built a sizable lead in the fourth set to win by six and take the match. Lexi Irwin was one of the primary contributors to the win, assisting her teammates on 36 occasions along with seven kills and 10 digs. Emily Archer also came on strong in this match as she scored 11 point on 11 kills and one dig. In addition, Henry and Hering provided 15 and 10 points, respectively.

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Behrend did not fare as well on Saturday, dropping two consecutive matches. The day started with a very competitive match against the Westminster Titans. Following a two-point win in the first set, the Lions fell apart in the second set and lost by 14 points. They bounced back in the third set with a five-point victory. Neither team gained much of a lead in the fourth set, with the largest lead being four. Eventually, Behrend managed to obtain a 23-21 lead. Unfortunately, they never made it to game point as the Titans recorded four consecutive kills to win the match. The final set was a heartbreaker as well. The last two points came off of an attack error by Hering and a service ace from Reilly DeGeorge of Westminster, giving the Titans the match win. Hering led the team with 13.5 points on 11 kills and 17 digs. Parra, Archer and Kristin Reiland had good showings as well, each scoring 9.5 points. Irwin again led the team with 32 assists.

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After this loss, the Lions were unable to bounce back against the Wooster Fighting Scots, losing in straight sets. The Lions did get out to a two-point lead in the first set before a Wooster 5-0 run out them out in front for the remainder of the match. Just as well, the second set saw five ties and numerous lead changes before Wooster took seven of the last ten points for the win. Despite the efforts of their leaders, Behrend lost by six in the final set. There was one major bright spot to the day, however, as Hering was named to the All-Tournament Team for her performance.

Behrend’s busy schedule only get busier this week, as they have four matches to start regular match play. They will clash with non-conference opponent Fredonia on Tuesday night, followed by a match at Alfred State on Friday. They round out the week with a doubleheader against Houghton and RIT in Rochester, NY on Saturday.