BETHANY, W. Va. – The Westminster College volleyball team lost, 3-2, at Bethany College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) five-set thriller Tuesday night.
After battling back from being down 2-1, the Titans had match point at 14-11 in the fifth set. The Bison, however, scored five-straight points to win the match.
Westminster (23-5, 12-2 PAC) took its first lead in set one, 14-13, however, Bethany (15-14, 10-4 PAC) pulled away with a 7-0 run and won set one, 25-20. The Bison had a 12-10 lead in the second set, before the Titans scored five-straight and maintained their lead to even the match at 1-1 with a set two victory (25-20). Bethany was never behind in set three and won, 25-20, to go up 2-1. Westminster jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the third set, however, Bethany scored six-straight of its own to tie the set at 6. The Titans went on another run (12-3) and led comfortably at 18-9. Westminster sealed the set at 25-20 to force a fifth and match-deciding set.
The fifth set included five ties. Bethany had an 8-4 lead, before Westminster answered with a 6-1 run to go in front, 10-9. After the Bison tied the set at 10, Westminster had match point following a 4-1 run. Bethany rallied with five-straight points, four of which came off a kill by Katie Sparks, and won 16-14.
Titan sophomore
Maya Steward (Los Angeles, CA / William Howard Taft) set a career-high in kills with a match-high 21, to go along with 14 digs. Senior
Reilly DeGeorge (Ashtabula, OH / Saint John) and sophomore
Becky Adelman (Randolph, OH / Waterloo) registered 15 and 10 kills, respectively. Adelman also led the Titans with a career-high four aces and a team-high two blocks. Sophomore
Samantha Kelly (Irwin, PA / Penn-Trafford) dished out a team-high 23 assists, followed by junior
Haley Moore (Greensburg, PA / Greensburg Central Catholic) with 19. Senior
Josie Toporcer (Warren, OH / Lordstown) led the defense with a match-high 31 digs, followed by DeGeorge (21), Kelly (14), and Moore (12).
Westminster will next play at Thiel College in a PAC contest Thursday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m.
