Fayette Goes Back-to-Back as Volleyball Champs

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State Fayette won their second straight PSUAC Volleyball Championship on Tuesday, downing West number two seed Penn State Beaver 3-0 in Rec Hall. Fayette's win continued their dominance in the sports, as the 2019 victory was their 12th championship in the last 15 years.

Fayette was led by Siteri Tale with 19 kills and 11 digs. Jadyn Barnish dished out 24 assists and libero Machaela Hall had 21 digs for the numbers one seed from the West division. Heaven Bowman tallied 22 digs for Beaver, while Amanda Mike had five kills for a Beaver offense that struggled to get going. 

Fayette led early and often in set one, ultimately capturing the 1-0 lead with a 25-17 win. Set two went back and forth throughout as Beaver started with a 3-0 lead before Fayette battled back to take a 9-5 advantage. Beaver bounced back and tied the score at 15, 16, 17 and 18 before finally taking another lead at 19-18. After trading two points each, Fayette answered with a five point run to close out the set and grab the 2-0 set lead. Fayette would dominate the third set to close out the match and raise the trophy.

Each team reached the finals with the sweep, as Fayette knocked off the East's number two seed Penn State Brandywine 3-0 while Beaver beat Penn State Schuylkill by the same score in Monday's semifinals in Rec Hall.

With the win Fayette captures the PSUAC's automatic bid into the 2019 USCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship to be held in Virginia Beach, Va. the week of Nov. 7-9. Beaver sits on the bubble, but has a solid case to receive an at-large berth.