BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's volleyball team defeated Penn State-Berks in four sets on Tuesday night in Johnston Hall by a score of 21-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-18.
"It is always good to bounce back and win at home after two tough losses from the weekend," stated Head Coach Shelley Bauder after the match. "We were a bit sluggish in the beginning but once we settled down and got more into our system things really picked up for us. With Mary Zacher having 13 kills and 22 digs for us was very important. Also in the fourth set when Jean Markovic led us to 11 straight points that was huge for us."
In the opening set, Moravian led 14-11 and again at 19-17 before the Nittany Lions ran off six straight points to move ahead and eventually take the opening game, 25-21. The Hounds were in control of the second set from the beginning with a quick 5-2 lead, and the closest Penn State-Berks would get was three points the rest of the set as Moravian tied the match with a 25-15 win.
The Lions had a 6-5 lead in the third set when senior setter Megan Szkolnicki had four straight serves to put the Hounds ahead. After a brief tie at 9-9 in the game, Moravian would get four points from Markovic to take control and win by a 25-17 score. The Greyhounds trailed early in the third set and had just a 9-7 lead when Markovic ran off her 11 straight points with the first five on service aces as Moravian pulled out to a 20-7 advantage in the 25-18 win.
Sophomore outside hitter Mary Zacher also contributed one service ace and one block to add to her team leading 13 kills and 22 digs. Just behind Zacher in kills was junior opposite hitter Jaclyn Smith, who added nine kills, two digs and one block. Also playing big for the Hounds was junior middle blocker Taylor Kornmann, who tallied eight kills, four digs, four blocks and three service aces while freshman middle blocker Erin Tiger had five kills and four blocks for the team.
Freshman outside hitter Rachel Farmer knocked down six kills and eight digs. Sophomore libero Jean Markovic racked up 17 digs and 6 service aces, five of which came right in a row while senior setter Szkolnicki totaled 40 assists, six service aces, four kill, and six digs for the Greyhounds.
Up next for Moravian is a non-conference match on Thursday, October 1 at 7:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall against Messiah College.
