CALIFORNIA (Sept. 7) – The California University of Pennsylvania volleyball team opened play at its home Vulcan Invitational with a pair of victories over Notre Dame (Ohio) and Southern New Hampshire in the Convocation Center on Friday.
With the victories, the Vulcans improve to 6-4 overall this season while already playing teams from seven different conferences.
Against Notre Dame (2-6), Cal U featured five players with double-digit digs in a 3-1 victory (25-20, 17-25, 25-17, 25-18). Junior
Rachel Priore (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) paced the team with 17 kills and added 14 digs to register her second kill/dig double-double of the season. Freshman
Sarah Moehring (Palm City, Fla./Martin County) also notched a kill/dig double-double, her third of the year, after recording 11 kills and 16 digs. Seniors
Lois van Schaik (Naarden, Netherlands/St. Vituscollege) and
Tina Bellhy (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) tallied 10 kills and eight kills, respectively.
Freshman
Sarah Benson (Canton, Ohio/Jackson) posted an assist/dig double-double in the win, leading the team with 44 assists and adding 16 digs, her third of the season. Moehring and Benson tied for the team lead in digs, while freshman
Shelby Alloway (Dunkirk, Ohio/Hardin Northern) totaled a season-high 15 digs. Priore and sophomore
Jensen Silbaugh (Warren, Ohio/Lakeview) also tallied double-digit digs with 14 and 13, respectively. A trio led the defensive effort at the net with Bellhy, Moehring and senior
Emily Bucklin (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) each registering four blocks.
Against Southern New Hampshire (1-4), Cal U secured a 3-1 win (16-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-12) after posting a .355 hitting percentage in the final set of the match. van Schaik led the team with 14 kills on a .200 clip and Priore was close behind with 13 kills. Bucklin and Bellhy recorded seven and six kills, respectively. Benson guided the offense with 42 assists in the contest and has now totaled at least 40 assists in five matches this season.
Silbaugh tallied a team-high 21 digs in the victory and Moehring set a season high with 17 digs. Alloway notched nine digs and added three service aces, as the Vulcans posted 10 aces in the contest. The group of Bellhy, Bucklin and Benson each controlled the net with two blocks.
The Vulcans close play at their home invitational tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 8, with matches against West Virginia Wesleyan and No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney in the Convocation Center.
