LATROBE, Pa. (Oct. 12)- The Saint Vincent women's volleyball team lost a five-set match to Grove City on Saturday afternoon.

The Bearcats (8-10, 2-1 PAC) won the first two sets by scores of 25-20 and 25-15, before Grove City (11-8, 2-1 PAC) won the next three sets by scores of 25-18, 25-21, and 15-7 to hand the Bearcats their first PAC defeat of the season.

Kaelyn Staples-Klasnic led the way for Saint Vincent with a double-double. She recorded a team-high 14 kills, while also recording 19 digs for the Bearcats. Dakota Hershberger also recorded double-digit kills with 13 for SVC.

Vivian Poach added a game-high 32 assists, while Stacie Ramos recorded 21 digs in the loss. Meegan Williams totaled eight kills and 21 digs for Saint Vincent to add to their total. Lauren Fox recorded seven blocks for SVC as well.

It was back-and-forth for the first few points of the opening set as the set was tied 7-7. The Bearcats went on to score the next four points on a kill by Williams, an error by the Wolverines, and two service aces from Williams as well to put SVC 11-7. Saint Vincent continued on the run as they went on a 9-5 run to increase their lead to 20-12 with all the momentum.

Grove City climbed back in the set with a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 22-20, before the Bearcats scored the final three points in the set on kills by Williams and Staples-Klasnic mixed between an attack error from Grove City to win SVC the set (25-20), giving them a 1-0 advantage in the set.

Once again, the first several points of the set were traded between the teams as the set was tied 8-8. That's when Saint Vincent took full control as they scored the next eight points to take a commanding 16-8 lead in the set. The Bearcats lead remained at eight as they led 22-14. After a Wolverines point, the Bearcats scored the final three points of the set on two attack errors by the Wolverines, followed by a kill from Williams to win the set for Saint Vincent (25-15), increasing the SVC lead to 2-0.

The match flipped in the third set. Grove City quickly opened to a 13-6 lead and increased that lead to 17-9. However, Saint Vincent attempted to comeback as they went on a 7-0 run which included a kill from Staples-Klasnic and service ace from Poach to cut the Grove City lead to 17-16.

Grove City closed the set outscoring Saint Vincent by an 8-2 margin to win the set (25-18), cutting the Bearcats lead to 25-18. 

It was a fairly even fourth set as the set was tied 12-12, before Grove City took a slight 15-14 advantage. The Wolverines scored six of the next seven points to take a 21-15 lead. The Bearcats stormed back again to cut the lead to 23-21 after a service ace by Williams, but Grove City scored the final two points to win the set (25-21), tying the match at 2-2.

The Wolverines controlled the fifth set. Grove City quickly opened up to a 7-3 lead and increased that lead to 14-6. After a kill by Fox, Grove City ended the set with a kill to win it (15-7) 3-2.

As a team, the Bearcats had a hitting percentage of .105, while Grove City hit .121. Both teams recorded eight service aces and 12 blocks in the game as well. 

The Bearcats will return to action on Wednesday, October 16 playing host to Westminster in a PAC match. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Center on Wednesday night.