Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Abington, PA. – The University of Valley Forge Women's Volleyball team traveled to Penn State Abington to take on Abington and Centenary University. The Patriots dropped their first match of the day to Abington 3-0 (14-25, 12-15, 17-25), but pulled out a win in their second match over the Cyclones of Centenary 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-23) to go 2-1 on their weekend.

Match One: Abington downs Valley Forge
The Patriots were swept by the Nittany Lions of Penn State Abington (14-25, 12-15, 17-25) in their first appearance of the tri-match. Valley Forge gathered 12 hitting errors for .039 attacking percentage in comparison to the .262 percentage for the Lions. The Lions were able to consistently expand the lead on the net by dominating the front row, totaling 37 kills.

"We knew this was going to be a tough game," head coach Jessica Rink shared. "They played their hearts out and never gave up, they may have ended with a loss but they didn't let that defeat them."

Match Two: Valley Forge downs Centenary
After a tough loss, Valley Forge played their game against the Cyclones to take the sweep (25-12, 25-23, 25,23). As a team, the Patriots accumulated 19 kills, 18 assists, 37 digs, and 13 service aces. Senior Kaitlyn Hess led the charge for the Patriots collecting 7 kills, 14 digs, and 5 aces, while Hannah Hawryluk lead the team in assists (8).

In the opening set, the Patriots and Cyclones competed closely, however, Valley Forge produced a steady run from three Cyclone service errors, a pair of kills from Kaitlyn Hess, and freshman Melanie-Ann Torres, as well as two aces from libero, Jasmine Vargas, making the score 14-6. The Cyclones would attempt a comeback but fall short with a final score of 25-12.

The Patriots came out swinging in the second set with three kills from Mariah Straker, Jasmine Vargas, and junior Kimberly Ramcharitar. Valley Forge and Centenary traded runs for most of the set, finding themselves at 16-15. The Patriots would then take a 4-point lead (20-16) from two attacking errors, a ball-handling error, and a kill from Torres. The set closed on an attacking error from the Cyclones, ending the excitement with a 25-23 score.

In the third set, the Patriots benefited first from a ball-handling error by the Cyclones. Valley Forge increased their lead to 8-3 with three kills from Hannah Hawryluk, Mariah Straker, and Kaitlyn Hess. The Patriots took advantage of a service error, and two attacking errors from the Cyclones, making the score 13-7. Centenary closed the gap (15-13) from four Patriot errors, but three consecutive service aces from Kaitlyn Hess would stop their momentum. During the last minutes of the game, the Patriots found themselves struggling to close the set (24-19), as the Cyclones pushed to gain the lead from two aces and a kill, however, Torres signaled the final point with a kill.

The Patriots look to improve on their season as they are scheduled to play at Delaware Valley College on Tuesday, September 3^rd at 7 p.m.