The Pitt-Greensburg women's volleyball team picked up its first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference victory of the season Saturday, defeating Hilbert College in four sets, 25-16, 25-12, 22-25, 25-23, inside Chambers Hall. The victory moved the Bobcats to 3-8 overall and 1-1 in AMCC play.
Pitt-Greensburg controlled the match early, taking the opening two sets by convincing margins. After a 25-16 victory in the first, the Bobcats followed with a dominant 25-12 win in the second to take a 2-0 advantage. Hilbert responded by taking the third set, 25-22, before UPG closed out the match with a tightly contested 25-23 victory in the fourth.
Jackie Shields paced the Bobcat attack with a match-high 10 kills while hitting .207. Lauren Fajbik provided an efficient performance with six kills and just one error on 19 attempts for a .263 hitting percentage, while Ca'Mari Walden added five kills and hit .231. Abigail Smulik filled the stat sheet with six kills, 23 assists, four service aces, 17 digs and four block assists.Â
The Bobcats also received a strong effort from their back row. Ainsley Martin led Pitt-Greensburg with 20 digs and added three aces, while McKenna Pore and Hannah Binns collected 14 digs apiece. As a team, UPG finished with 85 digs and 11 service aces, compared with 76 digs and seven aces for the Hawks.Â
Pitt-Greensburg's offense finished with 37 kills and a .095 hitting percentage, while the Bobcats held Hilbert to a .000 percentage with 36 kills and 36 attack errors. The Bobcats were particularly effective in the second set, committing just one attack error and hitting .250. They then hit .158 in the decisive fourth set.
With the win, Pitt-Greensburg improved to 3-8 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while Hilbert fell to 5-10 overall and 0-2 in the AMCC.
Pitt-Greensburg returns to action Wednesday night when the Bobcats host Mount Aloysius at Chambers Hall.
