LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Sept. 1) – The California University of Pennsylvania volleyball team was swept in a pair of matches on the final day of the Bellarmine Kickoff Classic on Saturday, suffering a 3-0 loss to West Alabama before dropping a 3-0 match to host Bellarmine.
 
With the losses, the Vulcans move to 4-4 on the year after playing in a pair of invitationals to start the 2018 campaign. Cal U has faced a total of eight teams from eight different states during the early season stretch.
 
Against West Alabama (2-2), Cal U suffered its first sweep of the season with a 3-0 loss (25-23, 25-21, 25-16)  Junior Rachel Priore (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) paced the team with 11 kills and tallied her fourth match this year with double-digit kills. Senior Tina Bellhy (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) and sophomore Madeleine McKenna (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) added four and three kills, respectively. Freshman Sarah Benson (Canton, Ohio/Jackson) directed the offensive effort with 19 assists in the loss on Saturday afternoon.
 
Sophomore Jensen Silbaugh (Warren, Ohio/Lakeview) recorded the team lead with 15 digs in the contest, while freshmen Sarah Moehring (Palm City, Fla./Martin County) and Shelby Alloway (Dunkirk, Ohio/Hardin Northern) both added nine digs.
 
Against Bellarmine (6-2), the Vulcans suffered a 3-0 loss (25-22, 25-12, 26-24) after battling in the first and third set of the match. Priore and Moehring tied for the team in kills with six each, while Bellhy registered five kills. The offense was guided by Benson with 21 assists against the Knights.
 
Silbaugh notched 21 digs in the contest to mark her second match with at least 20 digs at the weekend event, while Alloway and Moehring both totaled nine digs. Cal U matched a season-high with nine blocks with Bellhy leading the defensive effort with five blocks. Sophomore Madison Kline (Hastings, Pa./Cambria Heights) and Priore both added three blocks in the loss on Saturday night.  
 
Cal U returns to action next weekend when it hosts the Vulcan Invitational on Sept. 7-8 in both the Convocation Center and Hamer Hall.