WAYNESBURG, Pennsylvania - October 15, 2024 - Hiram returned to its winning ways on Tuesday, sweeping a future conference opponent in Waynesburg inside Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse: 25-15, 25-20, 26-24.

The Terriers are now 5-2 against teams from the Presidents' Athletic Conference this season. Hiram College will begin full-time competition in the PAC in 2024-25.

Hiram posted a .202 hitting percentage over the course of the three dominant sets, its third-best mark in a single match this season (.289 vs Muskingum and .275 vs Thiel). Cate Maguire had 14 kills to lead all student-athletes in the match, while Emily Richardson added eight kills and Samantha Telisman had seven kills.

The Terriers didn't trail at any point in the first set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and eventually turning a 9-9 tie into a 15-9 lead on the serve of Brooke Norris. The depth of the Hiram roster stood out in the early stages, with six different student-athletes recording at least one kill in the opening set.

In the second set, Waynesburg fended off a four-point deficit with a 4-0 run of its own to level the score at 6-6. Hiram answered in swift fashion, though, scoring five straight points later in the set – four of which came on the serve of Telisman – to jump out to a 16-12 advantage. Maguire recorded kills on two of the final four points in the set to give her team a commanding two-set advantage.

The Yellow Jackets continued to apply pressure, scoring eight of the first 11 points in the third set. Krista Wilson and Kristina Zadrozny fueled the rally and finished with nine and seven kills respectively.

The third set acted like a seesaw, with Hiram going on a 14-1 run to take a 17-9 lead and Waynesburg later going on a 10-0 run to take a 24-23 lead and earn a set point opportunity. The veteran leaders of the Terriers remained composed, with senior Andrya Hanmore, junior Kelly Hoffman and the junior Maguire each having a kill to close out the third set, 26-24.

Hoffman was the server on each of the final two points and finished with 28 assists.

The win gives Hiram some momentum heading into another non-conference match against PAC competition; the team will travel to Meadville, PA and take on Allegheny on Thursday at 7 p.m.