LATROBE, Pa. (Oct. 14) – The Saint Vincent women's volleyball team used a balanced attack to defeat Franciscan University 3-0 in a Presidents' Athletic Conference match in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.
 
After winning two tight opening sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-23, the Bearcats (7-11, 4-7 PAC) closed out the match with a decisive 25-10 win to seal the straight-set victory over the Barons (2-12, 1-11 PAC).
 
The Bearcat boasted a balanced offensive effort, with five different players tallying at least four kills. Carly Augustine led the way with nine, while Becca Miller added eight, Luciana Polk seven and Vivian Poach six.
 
Lindsey Kocjancic tallied a team-high four blocks, while Miller and Caitlyn Figuly added three apiece, while four different players reached double figures in digs. Madie Marsico paced the SVC defenders with 20 digs, with Polk adding 11, Augustine 13 and Olivia Persin 11.
 
Augustine and Persin each tallied double-doubles in the win, with the former adding 15 assists and the latter 10. Nikki Friendshuh served three of the Bearcats' seven aces.
 
The Barons came out strong to open the match, jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the opening set. The Bearcats quickly rallied with four unanswered points, with a kill from Augustine and a trio of Baron errors tying it at 5-all. The tide again turned, with Franciscan taking advantage of three SVC attack errors to jump out to a 9-6 lead. The Baron advantage would hover between 2-4 points over the next several serves, before the Bearcats put together another big rally. Trailing 13-10, SVC erupted for a 7-1 run, which included kills from Poach, Polk and Kocjancic, to jump in front 17-14. As was the case throughout the set, the Barons refused to go away and eventually re-gained a 20-19 lead. After an Augustine kill tied it at 20, the Bearcats then took control, closing the set on a 5-2 run, punctuated with a kill by Miller to close out the 25-22 win.
 
Saint Vincent looked to take the momentum from the first set into the second, opening up a quick 8-3 lead after kills by Polk and Augustine and another Persin ace. As they had in the opener, the Barons battled right back to tie the set at 9-9. The back-and-forth theme continued, with SVC embarking on a 5-1 run to take a 14-10 advantage, before Franciscan gradually chipped away at the deficit before going in front 20-19. After the teams traded points over the next three serves, the Bearcats regained a 23-21 lead on a tandem block by Kocjancic and Polk, before a pair of Franciscan errors gave SVC the 25-23 set win.
 
Kocjancic opened up the scoring in the third set with a kill, and the Bearcats quickly took charge, jumping out to a quick 4-1 lead. The Barons scored the next point, but the Bearcats would continue to roll, upping their lead to 10-2. The 6-0 run included kills by Polk, Miller and Augustine, as well as three blocks in which Figuly had a hand, assisting on two with Miller and one with Augustine. Franciscan used a mini rally to cut the deficit to 12-8, but the Bearcats would answer right back. An Augustine kill upped SVC's advantage to 13-8 and kicked off a 7-0 run. The Bearcats used a true team effort over the decisive surge, which included three aces by Friendshuh, a kill by Polk and a block by the duo of Poach and Kocjancic. Another ace, this one from Kocjancic, gave SVC a 22-9 advantage, before Poach tallied kills off on the evening's final two rallies to close out the set at 25-10, and the match at 3-0.
 
Saint Vincent will now return to action on Saturday, Oct. 16, traveling to PAC foe Geneva for a 1 p.m. bout.