Women's Volleyball: Bison earn second straight PAC Title

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Bethany College women's volleyball team won its second consecutive Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) volleyball tournament title against Chatham University Saturday evening. The Bison earned a 3-1 victory over the Cougars in a packed AFC arena.

THE MATCHUP

• Bethany 3, Chatham 1 (25-17, 28-26, 16-25,  )

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the opening set, after the set was knotted at 6-6, the Bison used an 8-2 run to take a 14-8 advantage that was capped by back-to-back kills by Sydney Kirker and Riley Felton. Despite the Bison holding the lead, the Cougars continued to battle and chip away. The Bison would take set one 25-17 and take a 1-0 lead.
• Set two saw Chatham take the early advantage, but Bethany responded quickly, by scoring five straight points. The Bison maintained the momentum for majority of the set, leading 19-12. However, the Cougars used a strong bounce back to knot the set at 20-20. Trailing 25-24, the Bison needed an answer. The answer came from Sydney Kirker and Riley Felton who scored the final two points of the set, giving the Bison a 2-0 advantage.
• With their backs against the wall and on the verge of being swept, the Cougars controlled the set, completely dominating the Bison, 25-16.
• In the final set, the Bison regained their composer and used their experience to flip momentum. The Bison dominated from start to finish, leading 9-2 and closed the set on a 15-6 run.
• Destiny Goodnight closed out the victory with her team-leading 13^th kill for the second straight PAC Championship.

MATCH NOTES

• Destiny Goodnight had a team-high 13 kills.
• Sydney Kirker and Olivia Koehler added 10 kills each.
• Riley Felton had eight kills, five digs and three blocks.
• Defensively, three Bison athletes led with double-digit digs, Caroline Mercer (18), Asia Crim (16), and Anna Taylor (15). Goodnight led the Bison with four blocks.

NOTABLES

• The PAC Championship is Bethany's second consecutive and fourth in program history.
• The Bison won conference championships in 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2023.
• Riley Felton was named the PAC Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

RECORDS

Bethany College – 22-7 (9-1 PAC)    

Chatham University – 18-6 (9-1 PAC)  

WHAT'S NEXT?  

With the PAC Championship, the Bison have earned the conference automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Bethany will find out their NCAA destination on Monday at 1 pm.