NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Penn State Behrend Women’s Volleyball team swept the College of New Rochelle 3-0 in the first contest of the Union Tournament on Friday night and at the same brought an end to the Blue Angels 10 game winning streak. The Lions, from Penn State’s campus in Erie Pennsylvania, handed CNR its first loss in almost a month by scores of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-21.
In the night cap, CNR faced off against the host Union College. The Blue Angels got off to a slow start against a solid Union team and lost the first set 25-14. CNR was more composed in the second set and pushed past the Dutchmen to a late 18-16 lead. But, Union rounded out the match with a trio of service aces coupled with three kills around two more CNR points to make it 23-20 Union. The Blue Angels handed the final two points to Union on a service error and a ball handling error to set the final.
Again in the final frame, CNR battled, this time early on to an 8-7 lead, but watched Union go on a midset rally to build a comfortable lead and never looked back.
On the night, CNR was led by sophomore Fabiola Padilla Rios (San Juan, PR) with six kills. Teamwise, Union held a narrow 30-22 advantage in kills, but CNR made 19 errors on the attack compared to the Dutchmen’s 12.
In a small irony, the Blue Angels bread and butter service aces were held in check, as the team combined for just five, while Union handed out 15 aces on the night. CNRR came into the game averaging 4.5 service aces per set.
The defense worked hard on the night as four different players hit double digits in digs. Padilla Rios, along with junior Melanie Ann Lopez Soto (Gurabo, PR) and sophomore Rosa Angeles (Yonkers, NY) all had 12 digs. Junior Indigo Flowers (San Francisco, CA) rounded out the defense with 10 digs.
CNR is now 13-6, while Penn State improves to 12-9 and Union now sits at 17-4 overall.
The Blue Angels return to action tomorrow morning at 11:00am when they play Skidmore College at the Union Quads.