ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's volleyball team played its first home game of the season, coming out on top against Penn State Behrend by a score of 3-1 on Thursday.

The Saxons (5-9, 0-0 Empire 8) lost the first set, 25-18, before defeating the Nittany Lions (12-4, 0-0 AMCC) in the next three sets at 25-20, 25-21, 26-24.

Four AUVB players were the stars of the show, as they all scored in double figures tonight. Taylor Malone (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) led with a game-high 19.5 points on 19 kills and one block assist while notching 11 digs. Delaney Sims (Bogart, GA/George Walton Academy) hit an outstanding .389, tallying a career-high 15.5 points on a career-high nine kills while matching her career-high four service aces. She also added a game-high 41 assists and 12 digs to post her first career triple-double. Carleigh Santavy (Commerce, MI/Walled Lake Northern) registered 13.0 points on 13 kills. Julia Abbott (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton), who was tied with Sims with a .389 hitting percentage, finished with her first career double-figure scoring performance as she recorded a season-high 10.5 points on a season-high eight kills and four blocks.

Three other Saxons posted double-digit digs. Madelyn McGowan (Corona, CA/Norco) led with 16 digs and eight assists. Meeghan Peterson (Amherst, NY/Williamsville South) added a season-high 13 digs while  Jessica Lucille Ramirez (Riverside, CA/Hillcrest) had a career-high 11.

AUVB lost the first set but won the next two to take a 2-1 lead. Penn State Behrend had the lead for the majority of the fourth set. The Saxons called a timeout after the Nittany Lions went up 19-13. AUVB went right to work with two kills from Abbott and one from Cara Brautthauer (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg Area). Santavy tallied back-to-back points that cut Penn State Behrend's advantage to two. Sims and Malone tied the game at 22-all to force a Nittany Lion timeout. The Saxons took one last timeout after the visitors broke the tie. Two errors from Penn State Behrend put the score in AUVB's favor. After one last tie by the Nittany Lions, Malone registered back-to-back heroic kills to seal the victory for the Saxons.

"It was great to get a win in our first home match of the season." Head Coach Mike Honeycutt said. "First-year Julia Abbott came in and provided a huge spark for us. We were scrappy and played with a calm confidence. Especially in the fourth set, when we played from behind the entire time. It was a great win against a very strong opponent."

AUVB is back on the road this weekend as it travels to the Centenary Tri-Match. The Saxons will have a second rematch with Hunter College (at 2:00 PM) before taking on host Centenary University (at 4:00 PM).