Lady Lions Place Fourth in Pre-season Tournament

By Noelle Miloszewski

Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009

Monaca, PA - On day two of the USCAA Pre-season Tournament, the Penn State Beaver Lady Lions hosted the Penn College Wildcats and took the match, 3-1, with scores of 25-19, 25-22, and 25-23 in games one, three, and four. The Wildcats defeated the Lady Lions in the second game, 25-21.  

In game one, the Lions battled point-by-point. Beaver took the lead and eventually defeated Wildcats, 25-19, on a service ace by junior Liz Hain (Northgate High School, Pittsburgh, PA.)

In game two, Beaver worked its way up to a comfortable 7-point lead at 14-7. However, Penn College fought back, tying the score at 19-19 and going on to take the win, 25-21.

In game three, the teams rallied back and forth, creating six tie scores within the set. With the game tied 20-20, Beaver bounced back with a 4-point run. The Wildcats retaliated with a quick two points but Beaver won, 25-22.

In the fourth and final set, Penn College took a 17-11 lead. Beaver worked hard and brought itself within 4 points of the Wildcats at 23-19. A time-out was called, and a refreshed Beaver team won the set, 25-23, and the match, 3-1. 

In the victory, senior Jen Hain (Northgate High School, Pittsburgh, PA) had 13 kills and 28 assists while sophomore Katie Landis (Rochester High School, Rochester, PA) contributed 14 digs.

Beaver's second match-up of the day was against the Cougars of the University of Cincinnatti-Clermont. Beaver lost three straight matches, 25-24, 25-15 and 25-14. 

In the loss, Landis recorded 10 digs. Other key players were Hain, who had 14 assists, and junior Heather Sandusky (New Brighton High School, New Brighton, PA) who added 9 kills. Beaver finished fourth out of six teams in the Pre-season Tournament. 

The Lady Lions return to action at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 1 when they take on the Lady Barons of Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH.