The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg volleyball team competed twice Saturday at Tomsich Arena, taking on Geneva and host Kenyon. The Bobcats opened the day with a tightly contested four-set match against Geneva before closing the afternoon against the Owls.
Bobcats Battle Geneva in Four-Set Match
Pitt-Greensburg opened the day strong against Geneva, taking the first set 25-21. The Bobcats turned in their best offensive performance of the match in the opening frame, recording 15 kills with just three errors on 38 attempts for a .316 hitting percentage. Geneva responded with a 25-21 victory in the second set to even the match.
The final two sets came down to the wire. Pitt-Greensburg pushed Geneva beyond 25 points in both frames, but the Golden Tornadoes edged the Bobcats by identical 26-24 scores to secure the 3-1 victory. The back-and-forth match featured 21 ties and 11 lead changes.
Abigail Smulik paced the Bobcats with 16 kills while committing just two errors on 40 attempts for a .350 hitting percentage. She also contributed 14 assists, 12 digs and five block assists. Jackie Shields added nine kills while hitting .381, and Lauren Fajbik finished with seven kills. Lilly Buckles handed out a team-high 22 assists and collected 14 digs.
Ainsley Martin led the defensive effort with 15 digs and also recorded a team-high three service aces. Emily Hernandez joined Smulik with 12 digs, while Hannah Binns added 11. Paige Phillips and Ca'Mari Walden each contributed three block assists.
Pitt-Greensburg finished with 50 kills and hit .200 for the match, compared with Geneva's 53 kills and .150 hitting percentage. The Bobcats also held a 78-74 advantage in digs.
Pitt-Greensburg Closes the Day Against Kenyon
The Bobcats returned to the court later Saturday to face host Kenyon, with the Owls taking the match in three sets, 25-17, 25-19 and 25-16.
Mia Stohon led Pitt-Greensburg offensively with an efficient performance, recording a team-high eight kills on 10 attempts without an attack error for a .800 hitting percentage. Stohon also delivered two service aces. Smulik added seven kills along with seven assists, eight digs and an ace.
After dropping the opening set, Pitt-Greensburg produced its highest kill total of the match in the second frame. The Bobcats recorded 12 kills and hit .150, but Kenyon answered with 14 kills to take the set 25-19 and build a 2-0 advantage. The Owls then secured the match with a 25-16 victory in the third.
Buckles directed the offense with a team-high 12 assists and tied Martin for the team lead with 11 digs. Smulik added eight digs, while Hernandez collected five. Damia Sibblies finished with four kills, and Shields and Fajbik added three apiece.
Pitt-Greensburg finished the match with 25 kills, three service aces and 41 digs. Kenyon totaled 38 kills, 12 aces and 46 digs while hitting .216.
Following Saturday's two matches, Pitt-Greensburg moves to 2-7 overall. The Bobcats will now turn their attention to AMCC play, traveling to La Roche on Tuesday, Sept. 22 for their conference opener at the Kerr Fitness Center.
