LATROBE, Pa. (Aug. 30)- The Saint Vincent women's volleyball team split their season opening doubleheader on the opening day of the 2024 Bearcat Challenge.
 
The Bearcats (1-1) won 3-1 against Pitt-Greensburg (0-2) in the opening match of the night and fell 3-2 in a marathon match against R.I.T. (2-0) in their final match of the night.
 
Game 1- Saint Vincent 3, Pitt-Greensburg 1
The Bearcats fell in the opening set 21-25, before winning the next three sets by scores of 25-23, 25-21, and 25-19.
 
Kaelyn Staples-Klasnic led the way with 14 kills, while also picking up 22 digs. Meegan Williams had a great debut for the Bearcats as well with 12 kills and 25 digs.
 
Freshman, Maya Martell added eight kills, while Madie Eagler recorded 18 assists. Sani Jones had 17 assists and Stacie Ramos recorded 16 digs. Vivian Poach tallied seven aces in her return to the Saint Vincent lineup as well.
 
As a team, SVC had 14 service aces compared to 11 from UPG. The Bearcats also recorded six blocks in comparison to 2 by the Bobcats. Saint Vincent totaled 44 assists and 86 digs to add to their total.
 
Kills were 47-38 in favor of the Bearcats.
 
UPG quickly opened up to a 10-4 lead in the opening set. Saint Vincent stormed back to tie it 15-15. UPG answered, closing the set out on a 10-6 burst to win the opening set (25-21), as the Bearcats trailed 1-0.
 
After trailing 21-20 in the second set, SVC scored five of the final seven points to win the second set (25-23), tying the match 1-1. It was all Saint Vincent in the third set. The Bearcats led 16-8 and held off a late run by the Bobcats to win the third set (25-21), taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Once again, SVC controlled the fourth set. Saint Vincent led 18-8 and once again held off a late run to win the set (25-19) and the match 3-1.
 
Game 2- R.I.T. 3, Saint Vincent 2
In game two, the Bearcats won the first two sets 27-25 and 25-21, before falling in the next three sets by scores of 21-25, 22-25, and 9-15 in the final set.
 
Williams and Staples-Klasnic led the way once again in the second match of the night. Williams had 14 kills and 17 digs, while Staples-Klasnic recorded 11 kills and 19 digs.
 
Ramos had a team-high 20 digs and Sani Jones totaled 20 assists. Poach once again had a solid performance again with six kills, five service aces, and eight assists.
 
RIT led Saint Vincent in most of the major statistical categories. The Tigers had 69 kills, 102 digs, and 67 assists. The Bearcats on the other hand recorded 43 kills, 86 digs, and 41 assists.
 
Trailing 25-24 in the opening set, the Bearcats scored the final three points of the set to take set one (27-25), taking a 1-0 lead. It was a back-and-forth second set as well as the Bearcats led 22-21, before scoring the final three points of the set once again to win set two (25-21), taking a 2-0 lead.
 
The Tigers controlled the next two sets to tie the match at 2-2 and after trailing 4-1 in the fifth set, came back to win the set 15-9, to win the match 3-2, handing Saint Vincent their first defeat of the season.
 
Saint Vincent will take on Hollins and Franciscan at 12 noon and 2 p.m. to conclude the second day of the Bearcat Challenge, tomorrow, Saturday, August 31.