BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College volleyball team defeated Penn State-Brandywine in straight sets on Wednesday night at Johnston Hall in non-conference action.
The Kelly Brown-Taylor Jennings connection was in full swing in the victory, as the senior setter found the junior outside hitter for 11 kills. Jennings finished the match with a .458 hitting percentage and did not make an error on Wednesday.
Brown recorded a total of 30 assists in the 3-0 win (25-18, 25-12, 25-17), and finished with a service ace, a block and four digs.
"Before the match, we talked about having fun and playing as a team," said Brown, who was getting ready to board an early-morning flight to Minnesota for four matches this weekend. "We also talked about going to Minnesota off a big win, which will make the trip that much better. We did what we had to do tonight. The more we have fun and play as a team, it's much easier to go out and get the job done."
Freshman middle hitter Taylor Kornmann had six kills and two blocks for the Greyhounds, who improved to 10-11 with the win. Sophomores Lauren Hostetler and Victoria Bobyak each had four kills, while senior middle blocker Brittany O'Hara added three kills and a block.
Freshmen Jaclyn Smith and Lauren Piccinich each registered two kills to round out the diversified Moravian attack.
"I'm happy we played sharp and crisp, and it really looked like the girls were having fun out there," head coach Shelley Bauder said. "We had some nice individual performances, and overall it was a great team win."
Freshman libero Kim Groff led the Greyhounds defensively with 16 digs, with Hostetler chipping in with six. Sophomore setter Megan Szkolnicki finished the night with three service aces and did some setting in the third set, picking up two assists.
The Nittany Lions kept the first set close, fighting to a 9-9 tie before Moravian went on a 16-9 run to close out the set and take a 1-0 lead. In the second, the Greyhounds won 10 of the final 11 points to pull ahead 2-0.
The Blue and Grey put a bow on a nice team win by storming out to a 10-1 lead in the third set, and cruising home for the squad's 10th victory of the year.
The win assured a happy flight to the North Star State, where the Greyhounds will take on four opponents this weekend. Moravian has matches scheduled against The University of Wisconsin-Superior (3 p.m.) and Bethel University (7 p.m.) on Friday before taking on Hamline University (11 a.m.) and The College of St. Scholastica (1 p.m.) on Saturday. All times are Central Standard Time.
Bauder's daughter, Kaysie, is a freshman on the Bethel University volleyball team.
