GROVE CITY, PA - The Saint Vincent women's volleyball team opened up Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play by splitting a late-night tri-match, defeating Bethany 3-1 in the opening match before falling in three sets to host Grove City in the nightcap.

With the split, Saint Vincent's record moves to 4-3 overall, while they open up the PAC schedule with a 1-1 conference mark. 

SAINT VINCENT 3, BETHANY 1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-22, 28-26)
In Saint Vincent's first match of the evening, the Bearcats roared back from a 1-0 deficit to take the final three sets over Bethany. After dropping the opener 25-20, SVC regrouped to take the second and third sets by 25-22 scores, before outlasting the Bison in a marathon fourth set by a score of 28-26.

Carly Augustine led the Bearcats offensively, posting a triple-double with 13 kills, 18 assists and 13 digs. Kaelyn Staples and Becca Miller each reached the double-figure mark in kills, with 12 and 11, respectively, while Luciana Polk turned in a career-high 29 digs to go with nine kills. Polk was one of two Bearcats to eclipse 20 digs in the match, as Madie Marsico totaled 21, while Lindsey Kocjancic and Caitlyn Figuly shared the SVC team lead with four blocks each.

The Bearcats claimed the first two points of the opening set, before the Bison rattled off a 7-1 run to take a 7-3 lead. Kills by Augustine and Staples pulled SVC to within two, but the Bison answered back with four straight points to go up 11-5. Two kills by Augustine and a pair of Bethany errors brought SVC back to within two, 11-9, and the Bearcats would continue to rally, pulling to within one, 15-14, after a Staples kill and a Bethany error. Bethany would then pull away, however ending the set on a 10-6 run to close out the 25-20 win.

The second set went back-and-forth in the early stages, with the teams trading four ties and four lead changes, before three straight Bearcat points, capped off with a Sara Ellis ace to give SVC a 7-4 lead. Bethany would come back to pull to within one, 10-9, before kills from Miller and Staples capped off a 4-1 run and put the Bearcats up 14-10. The SVC lead would grow to five, 23-18, on a kill by Kocjancic. Bethany would eventually close the gap to 24-22, but a kill from Polk ended the set and gave the Bearcats the win.

Saint Vincent fell behind 3-0 to open the third set, but countered in a big way, scoring six straight points, bookended by kills from Polk. Bethany countered to take a 10-9 lead, before kills by two kills by Staples and one from Polk put SVC back in front 14-13, and they wouldn't relinquish the lead. Bethany twice pulled to within one, at 17-16 and 18-17, but would get no closer. SVC upped the lead to four, 23-19, before back-to-back points from Kocjancic closed out the 25-21 win 

Bethany jumped out to an 8-3 lead to open the fourth set, but led by Polk, Saint Vincent quickly regained the momentum, as the sophomore put down kills on three straight rallies to cap off a 5-1 run and pull her team to within one, 9-8. After kills by Augustine and Miller, Marsico served an ace to put the Bearcats up 12-11. An Augustine ace, sandwiched by kills from Miller, upped SVC's lead to 18-12, but Bethany chipped away at the deficit to eventually pull to within 21-18. The teams would trade points over the next several rallies, and a kill by Miller put SVC one point away from closing it out at 24-22. Bethany would again answer back, scoring three straight points to go in front 25-24. After an SVC time out, Miller's kill tied it at 25, but the Bison answered to go in front 26-26. However, the Bearcats would then close it out with the final three points, with a kill from Polk ending the set, 28-26, and the match, 3-1.

GROVE CITY 3, SAINT VINCENT 0 (15-25, 25-27, 17-25)
In SVC's second match of the night, Polk led the Bearcats with nine kills and 21 digs, while Augustine posted eight kills, Figuly three blocks, Marsico 13 digs and Stacie Ramos two aces.
 
In the opening set, the Wolverines jumped out to a 6-0 lead and the Bearcats were unable to recover. Saint Vincent would twice cut the gap to four, at 10-6 on an error and 11-7 on an Augustine kill, but Grove City would pull away to take the set 25-15.
 
Grove City jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, but SVC countered, with a Polk kill and a Ramos ace putting the Bearcats up 5-4. After Grove City answered with a 6-1 run, the Bearcats answered right back, with an ace by Sara Ellis kickstarting a 5-0 run that put them in front 12-10. The back-and-forth theme continued, as Grove City rallied to take a 17-16 advantage only to see the Bearcats scored three unanswered, on kills from Staples and Polk, along with a Ramos ace, to go in front 19-17. The lead would remain at two points over the next two serves, until the Wolverines rattled off a 4-1 run to jump in front 23-21. The Bearcats wouldn't go away, with kills from Polk and Figuly tying it at 23, before a Grove City error pushed SVC in front 24-23. The last counter punch belonged to the Wolverines, however, as they ended on a 4-1 run for the 27-25 set win.
 
Augustine scored the first point of the third set for SVC, and the teams would then trade points on each of the next 10 rallies, until a pair of Grove City errors sandwiched a Staples kill to put the Bearcats up 7-5. Momentum then swung the way of Grove City, with the Wolverines tying it at 8-8 before eventually taking a 10-9 lead. The hosts would then post a pair of 3=0 runs to up their lead to 16-12, but SVC countered with back-to-back kills from Augustine cutting the gap to 16-14. From there, however, it was all Grove City, with the hosts scoring nine of the final 12 points to claim the set, 25-17, and the match, 3-0.
 
The Bearcats will now prep for a busy week in which they will play four matches in a five-day span, beginning with a 7 p.m. contest at PAC foe Franciscan University on Tuesday, Sept. 21.