Latrobe, PA — The Oberlin College volleyball teamed defeated Waynesburg in straight sets and later fell to St. Vincent in five sets to open the 2018 season at the Bearcat Challenge on Friday. 

Waynesburg Match

In a back and fourth first set, the Yeowomen battled to a 24-24 tie late when Natasha Radic hammered home a ball from Sara Chang to give Oberlin the lead. The Yeowomen won the next two points to take the opening set, 26-24. 

Oberlin ran with the momentum from the first set, and would cruise to a 25-16 victory in game two.  The Yeowomen led by as many as nine points as junior Lexi Mitchell led the way with four kills in the set. 

In the decisive third set, a couple runs by the Yellow Jackets cut the Oberlin lead to 19-17 late. The Yeowomen took six of the final seven points of the match to seal the victory with another Mitchell kill. 

Mitchell led both teams with 10 kills in Oberlin's season opener, while Chang and Jaya Flynn-Young contributed seven each.  Running the offense for the Yeowomen was junior Samantha Lam as she earned 17 assists, while Chang had 10 helpers. 

Defensively, Mitchell dug out 12 balls in the first match and defensive specialist Emily Kelkar had eight in the victory.

St. Vincent Match

In the first game, the Bearcats took an early 14-11 off a kill by Mary Popp. The Yeowomen took the next eight straight points to give them a 19-14 advantage with three kills coming off the hand of Chang in the stretch. Unfortunately, St. Vincent rallied its way back and took the opening set, 25-23. 

The Yeowomen bounced back in the second set, 25-17, as they blew it open early with a six-point run. The strong stretch made it 12-8 and was capped by a Maura Gibbs kill. Mitchell would later earn the set-clinching kill.  

After dropping the third set, the Yeowomen battled back as a Jenna Snowden send-down capped a six-point swing to give Oberlin a 20-16 advantage in the fourth game. The Yeowomen rolled from there as a Mitchell kill made it 25-21 to force a fifth set. 

In the decisive fifth set, the Yeowomen took a 10-8 lead late off a Bearcat attack error, but the St. Vincent offense came alive to take the set 15-10. 

Gibbs led the Yeowomen with a career-high 19 kills and 21 points in the night cap. In addition Mitchell (14) and Chang (12) each had double figure kills. Lam kept the offense in motion as she finished the match with a career-high 41 assists.  

Defensively, Kelkar had 18 digs, while Mitchell tallied 15 digs to go with her two blocks. 

The Yeowomen will look to bounce back tomorrow at the Bearcat Challenge as they face Westminster College at 12 p.m. followed by a match versus John Carroll University at 4 p.m.