CRESSON, Pa. (Sept. 23)- The Saint Vincent women's volleyball team split a tri-match on the road at Mount Aloysius on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Bearcats were defeated 3-1 in their first match of the day against the host Mounties and then bounced back to defeat Pitt-Greensburg in their final match of the day also by a final score of 3-1.
 
Game One- Mount Aloysius 3, Saint Vincent 1
The Mounties won the first two sets, winning the first set 25-22 and the second set 25-20. SVC won a marathon third set, 34-32 and fell to Mount Aloysius in the final set 26-24.
 
Luciana Polk led the way for the Bearcats with 19 kills and 23 digs. Polk recorded a game-high six service aces as well. Kaelyn Staples also recorded double digit kills for Saint Vincent with 13, while also recording 14 digs, three blocks, and two service aces. Madie Eagler recorded a game-high and career-high 42 assists in the loss.
 
Coming off of the bench, Anna Grandas added eight kills and Rachel Wiesen tallied 13 digs. Lauren Fox and Alexis DiFuccia each tallied four blocks and Stacie Ramos recorded four service aces and five assists for the Bearcats.
 
The Mounties controlled the early portions of the first set as they opened up to 14-5 lead and increased their lead to ten at 20-10. The Bearcats stormed back, going on a quick 6-0 run on five errors by the Mounties and a kill from DiFuccia to cut the Mount Aloysius lead to 20-16.
 
Saint Vincent continued to gain momentum, cutting the lead to 22-21 after four straight points, two of which came on kills from Polk. The teams traded the next two points, but the Mounties scored the final two points to win the opening set (25-22), taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
It was the Mounties who took the early advantage in the second set as well, opening up to a 9-3 lead and increased their lead to 13-4. Once again, the Bearcats answered, scoring seven straight points and nine of the next ten to cut the Mount Aloysius lead to 14-13.
 
The Mounties once again pulled away late in the set, outscoring Saint Vincent 11-7 to win the second set (25-20), taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Bearcats started off strong in the third set, winning seven of the first eight points, including scoring six straight points on kills by Staples and Grandas, mixed between three service aces, all coming from Ramos. The Mounties stormed back this time, going on a 10-4 run to tie the set at 11-11.
 
The teams traded the next several points as the set was tied 24-24. Over the next few points, SVC had match point six times, finally converting on that match point on a kill from Staples to win the third set (34-32), forcing a fourth set.
 
In the fourth set, it went back-and-forth early on as the set was tied at 9-9 and remained at 19-19. Both teams went on to score four straight points as the set remained tied 24-24, before Mount Aloysius scored the final two points of the set to win the fourth set (26-24) and the match 3-1.
 
As a team, SVC recorded 88 digs, 51 kills, 13 aces, eight blocks, and 49 assists.
 
Game Two- Saint Vincent 3, UPG 1
The Bearcats won the first two sets by scores of 25-23 and 25-9. The Bobcats bounced back to win the third set 25-23 before Saint Vincent ended the match with a 25-14 fourth set win to clinch the 3-1 victory.
 
Polk once again led the way for SVC, recording a game-high 11 kills in their second match of the day. Polk also led the team with 22-digs in the four-set win as well. Staples recorded double digit kills for the second time on the day as well, tallying ten kills in the win.
 
Eagler backed up her 42-assist performance with a 33-assist performance against the Bobcats. Ramos added 12 digs and Wiesen tallied 11 as well. Fox had a strong match as well, recording eight kills, while also tallying a game-high four blocks.
 
In the first set it was back-and-forth as both teams traded points, finding their way to a 9-9 tie and 20-20 tie as well. Pitt-Greensburg took the first advantage going on a quick 3-0 run to take a 23-20 lead but the Bearcats closed out the set with a commanding 5-0 run to win the opening set.
 
The Bearcats scored the final five points on two kills by Jessica Hughes, a service ace from Ramos and two errors by the Bobcats to give the Bearcats the first set win (25-23), taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
It was all Saint Vincent in the second set. The Bearcats limited the Bobcats to just nine points in the set. Saint Vincent closed the set out scoring the final four points on three errors by Pitt-Greensburg, mixed between a kill from Fox to give the Bearcats the set win (25-9), taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third set was back-and-forth similar to the first set as the set was tied at 15-15. The Bearcats went on to score four of the next five points to take a 19-16 lead. Pitt-Greensburg battled back to cut the Saint Vincent lead to 23-22 and went on to score the final three points, winning the set (25-23), forcing a fourth set.
 
SVC controlled the entirety of the fourth set as well. After trailing 3-2, the Bearcats tied it up at 3-3 and never lost the lead from that point. Saint Vincent outscored the Bobcats 22-11 the rest of the way, including scoring three of the final four points on two errors by Pitt-Greensburg and a kill from Fox to win the set (25-14), winning the match 3-1.
 
Saint Vincent compiled 41 kills, 14 service aces, six blocks, 39 assists, and 76 digs in route to the win.
 
The Bearcats return to action on Wednesday, September 27 when they travel to Waynesburg for a matchup against the Yellow Jackets. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.