GROVE CITY, Pa. — Penn College lost to Thiel 3-0 on Friday in the opening round of the Grove City/Westminster Invitational, falling by set scores of 22-25, 15-25 and 20-25. The Wildcats finished with 15 kills while Thiel posted 34 kills and hit .165. The Wildcats dropped to 0-11 overall. Thiel is 3-2 overall.
How it happened: The Wildcats opened the first set with an 8-1 run, getting three
Taryn Smith service aces and three
Lilly Stockum kills in that stretch. After Thiel moved ahead 13-11, Penn College answered with four straight points, including a
Kendall Shade ace, to go up 15-13. Thiel followed with six straight points to move in front 19-15 and took the set 25-22.
PCT could not overcome Thiel's service pressure in the second set, as Arin DeLattre served four straight aces to move Thiel from a 6-4 edge to 10-4. The Wildcats answered in spots, including
Eleana Falkner's ace during an early three-point push and a later sequence with an
Avani Rainier ace and a
Peyton Maass kill that brought the set to 12-8. Thiel kept the separation from there and took the set 25-15.
In the third set, the Wildcats pulled even at 16-16 on a Rainier kill and a Thiel attack error, but Thiel answered and stayed in front late. Maass kept PCT within 22-20 with a kill, before Thiel scored the final three points to take the set 25-20.
Inside the box: Maass led the Wildcats with five kills and added nine digs. Smith recorded a team-high four service aces and added four assists and four digs. Falkner collected a team-high 10 digs and added a service ace.
Sara Seyfert converted her lone attack for a kill and finished with four assists.
Jordan Yoder recorded 21 digs and five service aces for Thiel. Arin DeLattre finished with eight kills on 12 attacks, four aces and a block. Addilyn Vagi added 10 assists and four kills on five attacks.
Up next: The Wildcats face Saint Vincent College and Westminster on Saturday at 10 a.m., and 12 p.m., respectively.
