Women's Volleyball opens the season 2-3

Elizabeth, PA - At the 2012 USCAA Volleyball Classic the Lady Lions started their season 0-3.  In their first match of the evening they faced Penn State Fayette, the 2011 PSUAC Champions.  They opened the first game running off several serves in a row, but weren't able to keep the lead.  Despite playing well in spurts the team fell 0-2.  Leading the offense were Sophomores Kayona Ward(Beaver Falls, Beaver Falls) and Christina Murdoch(Aliquippa, Hopewell) with 2 kills a piece.  Ward was big on the net with 3 solo blocks and 2 assisted blocks and making the bulk of the defensive plays was Freshman, Miranda Pfeiffer(Freedom/Freedom) with 13 digs.

In their second match of the night they faced UC Clermont.  Again they fell 0-2, but they showed that they could play at a higher level than their first match.  In the second set, they mounted quite the comeback before falling 18-25.  Leading the offense were Sophomore Natalie Gamble(McKees Rocks, Sto-Rox) and Senior Daina Owens(Farrell, Farrell) with 2 kills a piece.  Ward also contributed 2 solo blocks to their defense.  Sophomore, Candace Emanuel(Murrysville, Greensburg Central Catholic) was doing the heavy lifting on defense with 15 digs.

In their third and final match of the night, the Lady Lions squared off against Marygrove.  Again falling 0-2, the Lady Lions played well despite the loss.  Again leading the offense was Ward with 2 kills and added 2 solo blocks on defense as well.  Pfeiffer was the defensive star with 7 digs. 

Returning to action of Saturday morning, the Lady Lions squared off against Southern State Community College. Beaver won their first match by winning both sets by scores of 25-23 and 25-10. Owens and Ward had three kills apiece to lead the way as Ward also had 2 blocks and Owens compiled 4 aces. Gina Richman (Edinburg, Union) led the way with 25 assists and also 4 aces. Gamble also added 3 digs for Beaver.

In the second game of the day Saturday, Beaver once again played Southern State Community College and the Lady Lions picked up their second win of the season. Beaver won all three sets by scores of 25-9, 25-10, 25-18. Gamble led the way with 5 kills and 1 block while Emanuel had 10 digs and Pfeiffer had 6 aces.

Beaver will be back in action next weekend as they travel to La Roche College for another tournament.