PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Chatham Women's Volleyball (8-1, 3-0 PAC) continued their scorching start with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 28-26, 25-23) triumph over Franciscan (4-6, 1-2) on Tuesday night at the Athletic and Fitness Center.
 
After dropping a back-and-forth first set in which the Barons took seven of the final eight points, the Cougars took a 7-4 lead in set two. This set was once again tight, but Chatham locked in to win the final three points with a kill from Alexia Bowers to even the match. Four Franciscan errors gave the Cougars a 6-3 advantage in the third set before the Barons rallied to make the score 10-10. That's when Chatham used kills from Becca Gesner, Evelyn White, and Vanessa Mleczko to jump out to a 16-10 lead. Eight consecutive Franciscan points swung the momentum in their favor, but after three Paige Watson kills got the Cougars within 23-22, a Gesner kill and Baron error sealed the dramatic set for Chatham. The final frame was not any easier for the Cougars, but an Ava Plunkard ace helped Chatham pull away for a 21-16 advantage. Franciscan would come back to knot the score at 23 before back-to-back kills from Maren Balint finished off the match in favor of the Cougars.
 
White led Chatham with game highs in kills (11 on .360 attacking) and blocks (3). White and Delaney Schwind both served up 3 aces for the Cougars, who led Franciscan 8-3 in that category. Schwind also recorded 25 assists. Watson and Gesner both tallied 9 kills for Chatham. Sierra Ricci continued her defensive dominance with 35 digs, and Bowers chipped in defensively with 21 digs and a block.
 
The Cougars are back at the Athletic and Fitness Center on Thursday for a 7 p.m. match against Penn State Altoona.