ERIE, PA – The Houghton Highlanders took both of their matches on the second day of the Penn State-Behrend tournament as far as they could possibly go, but fell in fifth set of both, losing first to the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes then to the Kenyon College Owls.
GAME VITALS
Game #1
Score: Houghton – 2 | Geneva – 3
Records: Houghton: 1-3 | Geneva: 2-6
Scores: 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 28-26, 13-15
Venue: Junker Center, Penn State-Behrend College | Attendance: 60
Recap:
After losing both of the first two sets after taking the Golden Tornadoes down to the wire, the Highlanders rebounded to take the third. Houghton took that momentum into the fourth set, eventually forcing set-point, 26-25. Geneva would tie the score on a kill by Megan Keon, but Houghton capitalized on two consecutive GT errors to force the fifth and deciding set.
Geneva jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, but Houghton fought back, eventually pulling within a point late in the match, 12-13. A Houghton service error gave the GTs match-point, but a kill by
Emma Cole again put the Highlanders within a point. That, however, was as close as Houghton would come, as Geneva's Emily Nelson closed the game with her 20
th kill of the match.
Game #2
Score: Houghton – 2 | Kenyon – 3
Records: Houghton: 1-4 | Kenyon: 3-5
Scores: 21-25, 25-21, 25-20, 14-25, 16-18
Venue: Junker Center, Penn State-Behrend College | Attendance: 50
Recap:
Following their heartbreaking loss to Geneva, the Highlanders dropped the opening set to the Kenyon Owls, 21-25, but quickly bounced back to win the next two sets. Kenyon, however, would have other ideas, forcing a deciding fifth set—Houghton's second in a row—with a 25-14 win in the fourth.
With both teams hitting at impressive clips, the Highlanders and the Owls seesawed throughout the final round. After Kenyon forced match-point, 14-12, kills by
Ainslie Reimer and
Emma Cole, and an ace by Reimer, tipped the scales, giving Houghton match-point, 15-14.
Back-to-back Houghton attack errors would flip the script back to Kenyon, but Houghton once again tied the score on a kill by
Ella Smith. But the comeback was not in the cards, as the Owls posted consecutive kills to take the win back to Ohio.
NOTABLE STATS
>> Reimer posted back-to-back double-doubles on the day, first posting 13 kills and 20 digs against Geneva and 14 kills and 15 digs against Kenyon.
>>
Emma Cole and
Lilly Bentley added 21 and 18 kills total, respectively.
>> Alongside Reimer,
Natalie Rivera helped lead the Highlanders defense with 32 total digs.
>>
Logan Baer logged 47 total assists, and
Morgan Brace added 42 more.
>> The Highlanders have slammed out more than 50 kills in each of their last three matches, one more than all of the 2023 season, and the first time they have accomplished the feat in three consecutive matches since joining the NCAA in 2012.
UP NEXT
The Highlanders travel to Bradford, Pennsylvania on Tuesday to take on the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford Panthers at 7:00 p.m. Since joining the NCAA, the Highlanders hold a slim, 6-5, advantage, and narrowly won last year's matchup, 3-2.
