History Made: Women's Volleyball Wins First NCAA Set Before Falling to No. 2 La Verne
The No. 2 La Verne women’s volleyball team advances to the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 win over Penn State Behrend on Thursday afternoon at Johns Hopkins University.
BALTIMORE, Md. – The No. 2 La Verne women's volleyball team advances to the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 win over Penn State Behrend on Thursday afternoon at Johns Hopkins University.
Score: No. 2 La Verne 3, Penn State Behrend 1 (23-25, 25-5, 25-5, 25-3)
Records: No. 2 La Verne (26-2), Penn State Behrend (22-8)
Noteworthy:
* Lions registered their first set win in the NCAA Tournament in program history
* In the first set that featured eight ties, Behrend broke the last tie at 22-all with winning the final three points
* La Verne forced the Lions to a timeout its largest lead at 16-13
* Behrend battled back to tie the set at 21-all with a block before taking a 23-22 lead with a kill from Alani Salas-Garcia and an attack error by Mya Rya
* A kill from Hannah Smith put the Lions a point away from winning the set at 24-22 and making the Leopards take its last time out
* With Cadence Jones serving, Behrend won the set off her fourth kill to take a 1-0 lead in the match
* La Verne took a 6-1 lead in the second set and only allowed four more points by the Lions for a 25-5 win to even the match
* The third and fourth set was similar to the second with the Leopards jumping out to a nine-point lead and finished at 25-5 and 25-3, respectively
* Salas-Garcia tallied seven kills in the first set and finished with a team-best nine
* Sara Nobach finished her career with eight digs and Jones added seven kills and four digs
* Brynne Smith dished out 22 assists, including 15 in set one
