• Box Score

CALIFORNIA (Nov. 19) – In a meeting of the two top-seeded teams in the region, the California University of Pennsylvania volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss (23-25, 25-17, 21-25, 19-25) to Wheeling Jesuit on Saturday night in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship at Hamer Hall.

With the loss, the Vulcans finish the season at 33-5 overall under first-year head coach Peter Letourneau. Cal U, who has played in six-straight regional championships, entered the night on a 13-match winning streak and boasted a perfect 15-0 mark at home this season. Meanwhile, the Cardinals improve to 36-3 this year and capture the first regional title in program history.

Junior Brandy Harris (Bedford, Pa./Bedford) led all players with 21 kills and posted her 10th kill/dig double-double of the season by adding 14 digs in the loss. Classmate Kelly Fromknecht (Erie, Pa./McDowell) finished with 14 kills on a .385 hitting percentage and junior Meghan Franz (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) posted 13 kills on Saturday. Fromknecht and Franz also both tallied four blocks against the Cardinals.

Sophomore Molly Delaney (Carmel, Ind./Westfield) paced the defensive effort with 19 digs, tying her second-highest total of the season, while seniors Kortney Eshleman (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle) and Sara McMullen (State College, Pa./State College) each posted 11 digs. McMullen finished her career ranked sixth in school history with 1,197 digs and second with 171 service aces.

Eshleman recorded her fourth assist/dig double-double of the year after collecting 25 assists on Saturday. Sophomore Abbey Freund (Cottage Grove, Wis./Monona Grove) also helped direct the offense by posting 27 assists.

With the score tied at 17-17 in the first set, Wheeling Jesuit scored four-straight points to take 21-17 lead. The Vulcans then rallied to win four of the next five points to cut the deficit to one, 22-21, on a kill by Harris. However, the two teams traded points down the stretch before the Cardinals claimed a 25-23 win. Fromknecht and Harris both posted six kills in the set, while Delaney tallied six digs.

In the second set, the score was tied at 3-3 before the Vulcans posted four-unanswered points with Eshleman serving to take a 7-3 lead. Midway through the set, Cal U posted a 6-2 rally to increase its lead to seven points, 16-9, on a kill by Harris. The Vulcans maintained their lead throughout the set, eventually winning 25-17 behind four kills from Franz and Harris. In the second set, Wheeling Jesuit hit at just a .073 clip after committing eight hitting errors.

The Cardinals jumped out to a controlling 9-3 lead in the third set. Cal U worked the deficit down to three points on a kill by Harris, 15-12, before Wheeling Jesuit called a timeout. The Cardinals continued to maintain their multi-point lead throughout the remainder of the set and eventually won 25-21. Harris posted seven of the team's 15 kills in the third set and she combined with Delaney for 13 digs.

In the fourth set, Cal U took control early behind a 6-0 run with Eshleman serving to take a 9-4 lead. The Cardinals countered with a 7-3 run to trim the deficit to 12-11 before tying the match at 14-14. After the teams traded points, Wheeling Jesuit closed the set on a 7-2 rally to win the fourth set, 25-19.

The Vulcans and Cardinals previously met in the Atlantic Regional Championship in 2008 with Cal U claiming a 3-0 victory. In October of this year, Cal U posted 3-2 win over Wheeling Jesuit at Hamer Hall.