Wells Defeated By Penn St.-Berks In NEAC WVB Semifinals

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Making their first-ever appearance in the North Eastern Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament, the No. 2-seeded Wells College Express posted a 3-1 loss to the No. 3-seeded Nittany Lions of Penn St.-Berks on Saturday on the campus of Gallaudet University.

With the loss, the Express conclude their most successful season in team history with a 23-11 record after posting a 10-2 record against NEAC competition in 2014. In only the team's third season since the modern day revival of women's volleyball in Aurora after a 30-year hiatus, Wells shattered virtually every offensive and defensive team record en route to racking up the most overall victories amongst all NEAC schools.

The Nittany Lions overwhelmed the Express in the first set, winning by a 25-12 score, but Wells rallied to post a 25-22 victory in the second set. Penn St.-Berks was able to keep Wells at arm's length in sets three and four, winning via 25-22 and 25-17 scores. The Nittany Lions advance to take on the top-seeded Bison of Gallaudet University on Sunday in the league championship match.

Wells was led by sophomore Meredith Kadjeski (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) and her 15 kills. The league's Rookie of the Year, freshman Anuhea Leite-Ah Yo (Hilo, Hawaii) chipped in with 10 kills of her own while freshman Eliza Schwab (Hartland, N.Y. had a stellar game for the Express as a setter, assisting 32 of her team's 45 kills.

Defensively, freshman Olyvia Brazier (Stony Brook, N.Y.) led the way with 13 kills while senior Jessilyn Artaho-Aki (Kapa'a, Hawaii) racked up 12 digs. Kadjeski also hammered home a team-best two service aces. At the net front, Wells posted 10 block assists to set the single-match record in that statistic.

In the opening set, Wells tied the score at eight following a Leite-Ah Yo kill. However, the Nittany Lions took charge of the game and rattled off the game's next seven points to take a commanding 15-8 lead. In the first set alone, Wells committed eight attacking errors and hit a cumulative .051 while Penn St.-Berks registered 14 kills on 31 errorless attacks (14-0-31).

In a closely contested second set, Wells eked out the 25-22 win. Tied at 19 aside following a service error by Wells, the Express took a 23-21 lead following a kill by junior Vashti Nettles (Long Beach, Calif.), forcing a time out by the Nittany Lions. A bad set by Penn St.-Berks preceded a kill from Heleanna Davison, setting the score at 24-22. Artaho-Aki, however, ended the set after she recorded a kill off a pass from Schwab.

The Express led by a 22-19 margin in the third set, but Penn St.-Berks took the lead in both the set and match for good after rattling off the set's next six points in dramatic fashion. NEAC First Team All-Conference player Sophia Zhang posted back-to-back kills and a Jordan Heath service ace forced a timeout by Wells with the score tied at 22. Back-to-back kills by Jenny Von Holt and Zhang preceded a Wells attack error, ending the third set in favor of the Nittany Lions.

Seemingly stunned by the third set comeback by the Nittany Lions, the Express trailed Penn St.-Berks by a 10-5 margin in the fourth set before Wells was forced to call a timeout. Wells shrank the deficit to 18-14, but a service error by the Express set up a run where Penn St.-Berks scored five of the set's next six points. Back-to-back kills from Maria Pavone ended the match following the 25-17 fourth set win by the Nittany Lions.

Zhang racked up 19 kills and committed only three errors in 43 total swings. Heath set up 44 of her team's 55 kills while Megan DeAbreu racked up 21 total digs. Zhang also tallied 18 digs of her own, while Cassidy Schultz and Colby Jones posted 18 and 15 digs, respectively.