PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Chatham Women's Volleyball's (16-9, 11-5 PAC) season came to a close on Tuesday night at the Athletic and Fitness Center, they were defeated in the Quarterfinals of the PAC Tournament by Westminster (20-10, 10-6) by a 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-19) scoreline.
The Cougars took 5 of the first 6 points to open the match, but the Titans slowly crawled back until the teams were knotted at 10. The rest of the opening frame was tightly contested, with no team leading by more than 3 points. After Westminster led 23-22, Chatham broke through with 3 consecutive points to win the set, closed out by an
Evelyn White ace. With the score tied 7-7 in set two, the Titans went on a 6-0 run to grab the momentum in the match. Two kills each by
Vanessa Mleczko and
Becca Gesner got the Cougars within 19-16, but Westminster won five of the set's final 7 points to even the match.
A 5-0 burst for the Titans in set three put them up 10-5. The Cougars would battle but couldn't get much closer, and Westminster would eventually lead 21-14 in the error-plagued frame before taking the final 3 points and the match lead. Chatham's season was on the line in set four, and a couple more Gesner kills had the Cougars leading 4-3. A 7-1 Titan run then put them up 12-6 and Chatham on the brink. Gesner had three more kills to get the Cougars within 4, and an
Alexia Bowers kill would make the score 16-13. That's as close as Chatham would get, however, and Westminster claimed the victory despite the Cougars saving 3 match points.
Morgan O'Brien recorded a match-high 13 kills, 22 assists, and 26 digs to lead the Titans. Rachel LaSalvia tallied 12 kills, and Shelby Rambo blocked 7 Cougar attacks.
Gesner and Mleczko both had 12 kills for Chatham. Mleczko also registered 16 digs to finish with a double double. White and
Paige Watson both had 6 blocks.
Sierra Ricci racked up 30 digs, and
Delaney Schwind finished the match with a team-high 17 assists.
Westminster held a 50-38 edge in kills for the match, and had a .123 attacking percentage while holding the Cougars to a .045 hitting percentage.
