Women's Volleyball Clinches NEAC Postseason Berth

LANCASTER, Pa. – The Wells College women's volleyball team opened the final weekend of North Eastern Athletic Conference Crossover play with a 3-0 victory over Penn St.-Abington before falling in five sets to the hosts from Lancaster Bible College on Friday. 

With a victory against Penn St.-Abington, the Express (17-9, 8-2 NEAC) clinched the program's first-ever postseason berth with their eighth North Eastern Athletic Conference victory of the season. Despite losing to Lancaster Bible to conclude the day, eight league wins on the year guarantees that Wells can finish no lower than sixth place in the standings – the top six teams qualify for the conference's postseason. 

The Express dispatched the Nittany Lions in straight sets (25-12, 25-22 and 25-17) before falling to Lancaster Bible via set scores of 25-19, 20-25, 25-14, 17-25 and 14-16. Lancaster Bible improved to 8-3 within the league following the victory over Wells, tying them in the win column against NEAC teams. 

Against Lancaster Bible, Wells set program records with 98 digs and 174 total attacks. The 49 kills in the match are the  fourth-most all-time and the 16 service aces as a team are the most by a Wells team in a five-set match. Freshman Anuhea Leite-Ah Yo (Hilo, Hawaii) racked up 20 digs against Lancaster Bible by herself, becoming the fifth student-athlete in team history to post at least 20 digs defensively. 

Leite-Ah Yo posted nine kills for Wells against Penn St.-Abington and narrowly missed a double-double after racking up 14 digs defensively. Senior Taryn Heath (Truxton, N.Y.) set up 20 of her team's 29 kills while freshman Olyvia Brazier (Stony Brook, N.Y.) hammered home a team-high four service aces. Heath also picked up three kills on seven errorless attacks from the setter position. 

Versus the host Chargers, Wells saw a team-high 14 kills from junior Vashti Nettles (Long Beach, Calif.). Heath tallied 34 assists for Wells and completed the double-double with 16 digs defensively. Leite-Ah Yo's 20 digs led all Wells players while Brazier chipped in with 19 digs and a team-best five service aces of her own. Junior Zakarra Butts (Cortland, N.Y.) had a strong match for Wells, posting six kills on 17 errorless attacks and recording four service aces. 

In the first set against Lancaster Bible, Wells trailed by a 13-8 margin but rallied to take a 15-14 lead with sophomore Meredith Kadjeski (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) serving. A kill by Leite-Ah Yo preceded back-to-back Lancaster Bible attacking errors. A Nettles kill, set up by Heath, tied the score at 13 and forced a time out by the Chargers. Down the stretch, Wells saw two kills by Kadjeski in the final five points of the set to open the match with a win. 

Trailing by as much as 14-3 in the second set, Wells attempted a late comeback but the sluggish start doomed the Express. Down by a 21-13 score, Wells captured eight of the tilt's next nine points to set the score at 22-20. However, a Wells attacking error preceded a Katie Coomber service aces and a kill from Joanna Butala knotted the match score at one. 

The third set was a dominant one for Wells as they opened up a 14-4 lead after Brazier's strong stretch of serving allowed the Express to build the sizeable lead. Leading 23-11, the host Chargers took four-straight points but a service ace by Kadjeski lifted Wells to a 25-14 third set victory. 

The Express had their chances to win the match in four sets but ultimately allowed Lancaster Bible to rally, despite opening up the set with a 4-0 run by Wells. Cumulatively, Wells committed six attacking errors and hit a collective .030 in the fourth set alone and allowed Lancaster Bible to force home 12 kills in the frame. 

The Chargers came out strong in the fifth and final set, opening up a 5-1 lead through the first six points. A kill by Nettles and an attacking error by Lancaster Bible forced a timeout by the Chargers with the score set at 13 aside. Out of the timeout, Wells committed an attacking error but rebounded with a kill from freshman Eliza Schwab (Hartland, N.Y.) to knot the score at 14. A Coomber kill preceded an Express attacking error, ending both the set and the match. 

The Express will face-off against St. Elizabeth at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18 to conclude the final weekend of NEAC Crossover play.