Volleyball: Titans Advance to Fifth-Straight PAC Title Match

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The No. 1 seed Westminster volleyball team won, 3-1, over No. 5 seed Grove City in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament Semifinals at home Thursday night.

Tied 9-9 in the first set, Westminster (27-4) started to pull away with a 5-0 run, capped off by a kill from senior Samantha Kelly (Irwin, PA / Penn-Trafford). The Titans maintained their lead and won set one 25-17. The second set was close for the majority of the frame. Up 18-17, Westminster orchestrated a 5-0 run (23-17) and won 25-18 to go up 2-0. Grove City (19-12), however, would not go down easily and led 8-6 in the third set. The Titans responded with a 6-0 run to take a 12-8 lead. The Wolverines answered with a 8-3 run and led 16-15. Grove City held its lead for the rest of the set to win 25-21 – only the third set loss for Westminster in the last 15 matches. The Wolverines carried over the momentum in the fourth set with hopes of forcing a fifth. Grove City had control of the majority of the set with Westminster’s first lead coming late at 19-18 with a kill from junior Kaylee Sciubba (Tarentum, PA / Deer Lakes). Westminster led 22-21, however, Grove City scored three-straight points to have set point, 24-22. The Titans answered the bell with four-straight kills; starting with sophomore Lauren Lampus (Sarver, PA / Freeport Area), followed by back-to-back from senior Becky Adelman (Randolph, OH / Waterloo), and capped off with the match-deciding kill by senior Maya Steward (Los Angeles, CA / William Howard Taft).

Steward led the offense with a match-high 17 kills. Lampus and Adelman registered 15 and 11 kills, respectively. Kelly dished out a match-best 45 assists. Sophomore Malia Duffy (Allison Park, PA / North Allegheny) guided the defense with a match-high 31 digs. Also corralling double-digits digs were sophomore Claire Tobin (Battlecreek, MI / Lakeview (16), Steward (12), Lampus (12), and Kelly (11). Adelman and Duffy each knocked down a team-high three aces.

The Titans will host No. 2 seed Bethany on Saturday, Nov. 6 for the PAC Championship with a 4:30 p.m. start time. The PAC Sports Network will have the broadcast. Westminster has won the last two PAC Championships.

Note: Admission to all PAC Championship Tournament matches is $5 for adults and $2 for students, with students at PAC host institutions admitted for free with valid identification. Westminster College campus policy requires masking at all indoor events. Wearing a mask will be required to attend the volleyball matches.

For more Westminster Athletics news, go to westminster.edu/athletics.

Written by Nathan LaRiccia, Sports Information Director

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