Lions Split in Day 1 of USCAA Tip-Off Tournament

Monaca, PA - Today marks the start of the USCAA Tip-off Tournament hosted here at Penn State Beaver. 10 teams are playing in this tournament, each playing twice on Day 1 and at least 1 time on Day 2 in hopes to make it to the championship. 

The Lions began their season today taking on Kent State Tuscarawas. Beaver played strongly the entire game, keeping each set score extremely close. In the first set, Beaver lost by just five points. The scored stayed neck-in-neck, until kent St. took a 22-17 lead. Beaver made a great attempt to catch back up, but sadly Kent State Tuscarawas was able to end the first set 25-20. Beaver started the second playing great defense and offense. They were able to go up 7-0 against Kent State Tuscarawas The score did not remain this way long, and Kent State Tuscarawas caught up quick taking the lead 16-14. Kent State Tuscarawas would then remain in the lead for the rest of the set defeating Beaver 25-20 once again. Beaver struggled the most in the third set. Although they scored the first point in this set, Kent State Tuscawaras proved to be tough competition taking the lead and closing out the game 25-16. Beaver was swept 3-0 in their first game of the season. 

In their last game of the day, the Lions showed up and shut down Paul Smith College. They started off the first set scoring five points in a row, keeping Paul Smith at zero. Paul Smith was able to attack Beaver's defense and score some points, but it was not enough to beat Beaver. The Lions closed the first set 25-17. Both teams put on a show in the second set with the score remaining neck-in-neck until the very end. Beaver was able to pull out the win beating Paul Smith 27-25. The third set was not in Beaver's favor. Paul Smith was able to play off of the Lions mistakes, which lead to their 25-14 victory. Beaver did not let the third set loss bring them down, and they pulled out a big win in the last set defeating Paul Smith 25-17. Beaver finished out day one of the tournament in a split defeating Paul Smith 3-1. 

The Lions will be back in action taking on Greater Allegheny at 2pm tomorrow, September 2nd, in the last day of the tournament. Come out and show your support or watch the game live on the Rise and Roar Network! You can also stay up to date on the action at beaverathletics.com!