LATROBE, PA - The Saint Vincent women's volleyball team opened the 2021 season 2-0 with a pair of wins in front of its home crowd on the opening day of the 2021 Bearcat Challenge in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.

In their season-opener, the Bearcats breezed past Pitt-Greensburg in straight sets, before holding off a Pitt-Bradford comeback in the nightcap to win a five-set marathon.

MATCH 1: SAINT VINCENT 3, PITT-GREENSBURG 0
The Bearcats made quick work of the crosstown rival Bobcats in a 3-0 sweep to open the tournament, winning by scores of 25-12, 25-15 and 25-16.

Kaelyn Staples led an efficient offensive attack for the Bearcats, tallying 9 kills, while Becca Miller added eight and Caitlyn Figuly seven. As a team, Saint Vincent turned in an impressive .231 hitting percentage, committing only 10 attack errors over the three sets. The offense was quarterbacked by the setter tandem of Sara Ellis, who totaled 22 assists, and Olivia Persin, who dished out seven helpers. 

The Bearcats were also helped in the scoring column by a strong service game, as they tallied seven aces for the match, led by two apiece from Madi Marsico and Miranda Guthrie, while Guthrie also totaled four blocks, including two solos.

In the opening set, Saint Vincent jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead behind kills from Miller and Staples. The Bobcats cut the SVC advantage to 6-3, but the Bearcats then rattled off four straight points, with kills from Figuly and Staples, followed by aces on back-to-back serves by Marsico, to jump out to an 11-4 advantage. The Saint Vincent lead hovered between 7-8 points over the next several serves, before a service error by the Bobcats and back-to-back kills from Figuly gave the Bearcats a double-digit advantage, 22-11. The set would end with kills by Miller and Staples and a UPG attack error to give SVC the 25-12 win.

The second set followed a similar script as the opener, as the Bearcats led from the start. Saint Vincent scored the first three points on kills from Staples and Figuly followed by a UPG error, but the Bobcats would eventually close the gap to 7-5. The Bearcats would then surge ahead with a 6-1 run, with a kill by Miller and an Ellis service ace pushing the lead the 13-6. Saint Vincent kept the momentum and pulled away, with a Guthrie kill upping the advantage to 17-10 and a pair of Bobcat errors increasing the spread to 19-11. Kills by Alexis Ray and Guthrie would then close out the 25-15 set win.

After the Bearcats jumped ahead 3-1 in the third set, the Bobcats seized the momentum to open up leads of 6-5, 10-8 and 11-9. Saint Vincent would then regroup following a time out, rattling off eight unanswered points. A Miller kill tied the score at 11, before SVC regained the 12-11 lead on a Figuly putaway. A trio of UPG errors upped the SVC advantage to 15-11, before kills from Figuly and Miller gave the Bearcats a 17-11 lead. The teams would trade points over the next several serves, before the Bearcats took advantage of three UPG miscues to close out the 25-16 win.

Emma Halutick led Pitt-Greensburg with 10 kills, while Abby Copeland recorded 16 digs and Alanna Meloy two kills in the loss.

MATCH 2 - SAINT VINCENT 3, PITT-BRADFORD 2
In the nightcap, the Bearcats jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, winning the first two sets by scores of 25-12 and 25-21, only to see the Panthers respond by taking sets three and four by scores of 27-25 and 25-19, respectively. After falling behind in the decisive third set, the Bearcats rallied to win 15-12 to earn their second victory of the day.

Luciana Polk turned in a monster performance for the hosts, posting a 23-kill, 18-dig double-double. She was one of four Bearcats to reach double digits in digs, with Marsico turning in a match-high 26, Ellis 13 and rookie Stacie Ramos 12. Ramos also led both sides with five aces, while Miller totaled two blocks, Ellis 24 assists and Persin 12 assists.

The Bearcats surged out of the gates to open the match, jumping out to a quick 11-2 lead, with Polk tallying four early kills. A service error temporarily halted the run at 11-3, but SVC quickly countered by scoring seven of the next eight points to jump ahead 18-4, with Guthrie recording two kills over the run. The Bearcat advantage would eventually grow to 20-5, and the hosts would cruise down the stretch, with Polk's fifth kill of the set closing out the 25-12 win.

Pitt-Bradford shook off the loss by jumping out to a 7-2 lead in the second set. The Bearcats rallied to take an 8-7 lead on a Polk kill and a Pitt-Bradford error, but the visitors would counter to jump in front 14-13 moments later. SVC would mount another rally, using a 6-3 run, with kills from Polk, Ramos and Staples, to jump in front 19-16. The teams would then trade points down the stretch, before a Ramos ace closed out the 25-21 win.

In the third set, the teams traded the lead over the first several rallies, before SVC pulled in front 8-7 on back-to-back Polk kills. The Panthers then surged ahead, rattling off a 7-2 run to take a 14-10 lead. After the Panthers' advantage swelled to 19-13, SVC responded with a 9-3 run, with a Marsico ace and two kills from Taylor Sheesley tying the match at 22-22. The visitors looked to put the set away, pulling ahead 24-22, but the Bearcats extended the set, using a Pitt-Bradford error and kills from Ramos and Polk to regain a 25-24 lead. The Panthers would then regroup, scoring the final three points of the set to close it out a 27-25 win.

The visiting Panthers would come out strong again in the fourth set, jumping on to leads of 3-0, 7-3 and 9-6. Saint Vincent closed the gap, taking advantage of three UPB errors to take a 10-9 lead. The squads then traded points, before Pitt-Bradford rattled off a 7-3 run to take a 17-13 advantage. Polk and Staples would record two kills apiece to pull the hosts to within 20-18, but the Panthers would extend their lead down the stretch to close out a 25-19 decision and force a decisive fifth set.

The final set of the evening opened with eight ties and four lead changes, before the Panthers opened up an 11-9 lead. Following a timeout, however, the Bearcats stole the momentum, tying the match at 11-11 on another Ramos ace before taking a 12-11 lead on a kill by Figuly. With the serve staying with the Bearcats, Ramos recorded her fifth ace of the match to give SVC a 13-11 advantage, before the Panthers committed a pair of errors to give SVC the 15-12 set win, and the 3-2 match win. 

The visitors were led on the stat sheet by the tandem of Emily Cleveland and Kaitlyn Sexton, who tallied 21 and 13 kills, respectively, while Kayla Maslowski finished with 19 digs and two aces.

The Bearcats will now look to close out the Bearcat Challenge with a perfect 3-0 record when they take on Hiram College at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the Carey Center.