LATROBE, Pa. - September 4, 2021 – Hiram women's volleyball split two games on day one of the Bearcat Challenge beating Pitt-Bradford 3-0, and falling to Westminster (PA) 3-0.
GAME 1: Hiram 3, Pitt-Bradford 0
Early in set one
Kayla Cole pushed the Hiram lead to 6-1 on a service ace. After trading points further along in the first set, Hiram went on a 5-0 run on a
Kiara Franks service ace pushing the lead to 13-5. The Terriers finished the first set rattling off the six final points winning set one 25-10.
Hiram and Pitt-Bradford traded blows for nearly the entire second set. A three point run early in the set gave the Terriers some breathing room at 12-8 after a
Mary Landis service ace.
Lyndsey Johns put together two kills in three points midway through the set giving the Terriers a 17-11 lead. Pitt-Bradford quickly stormed back however, the Panthers collected seven of eight points late in set two tying it at 19. Hiram closed the set taking four of the final five points winning 25-21.
The Terriers got off to a hurry in set three and didn't look back. After Pitt. Bradford cut the lead to 8-4, Hiram went on a ten point run capped off by a blocking error on the Panthers. The match was clinched by an
Emily Richardson kill securing set three 25-8.
A trio of Terriers had seven kills for the match in Cole, Richardson and
Kiara Franks. In the digs department,
Mackenzie Brannon led the way with 19, followed by Cole with 13. The 3-0 victory marked the second straight sweep after the opening Washington & Jefferson match resulted the same way.
GAME 2: Westminster (Pa.) 3, Hiram 0
Franks led the way for the Terriers with 12 kills followed by Richardson with seven.
Three different members of the Hiram team had double digit digs in the second match of the day. Brannon had the same number of digs in game one with 19. Franks was second with 15, and Landis collected ten.
Despite the 3-0 outcome, both teams were fairly even in the stat sheet. Westminster had 37 kills to Hiram's 32 with Westminster having 68 digs to the Terriers 61.
Hiram closes out the Bearcat Challenge tomorrow with two matches. The Terriers play Saint Vincent at 1 p.m. followed by a match with Waynesburg at 3 p.m.
