By: Colton Steiner

ERIE, Pa. - The Bluffton Beavers would hit the road and head east to compete in the PSB Invitational at Penn St.-Behrend. Opening up the weekend by taking on the Thiel College Tomcats. After falling behind in the first two sets, they would go on to win an exciting third set, but would eventually fall 3-1 in their first game of the day. In game two, they would face the hosts of the invitational, the Penn St-Behrend Lions. After cruising through the first two sets and going up 2-0, the Beavers would hit a wall and would end up getting reverse swept and falling to the Lions 3-2. The pair of losses drops the Beavers to an overall record of 3-4 on the season. 

To start game 1 of the day, Bluffton would jump out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, but a 7-2 run would give the Tomcats an 8-6 lead. After exchanging points back and forth, Thiel would jump ahead 14-10 until a kill from Bekah Pack (Lexington) and an Ace from Abby Lawhorn (Cable, Ohio / Mechanicsburg) brought the Beavers within two. Despite cutting down the lead, the Tomcats would go on another big run, outscoring Bluffton 5-0 to go up 20-13. While the Beavers were able to pull within three, Thiel would go on to win the first set, 25-20. The Tomcats would come out swinging in set two, quickly taking a 5-1 lead. Despite the slow start, the Beavers managed to work their way back into the game, pulling within one after an ace from Madison Brentlinger (Indian Lake) cut the Thiel lead to 10-9. It would be a battle as both teams would exchange points until Bluffton managed to take their first lead of the set after another ace from Madison Brentlinger put the Beavers up 19-18. While Bluffton was able to take a lead, it would be short lived, as they would get outscored by the Tomcats 7-2 as they would lose the second set 25-21. The Beavers came out in the fourth set with a new sense of urgency, jumping ahead 7-3 until a 3-0 spurt from Thiel brought the game within one point. After Bluffton was able to go up 11-9 with a Kacey Sager kill, the Tomcats would close the gap and end up going up 13-12. The set was full of back and forths, with neither team having more than a three point lead. With their backs against the wall and trailing 24-21, the Beavers showed no quit as a little 3-0 run that, featuring a Laila Sites (Delphos, Ohio / St. John's) kill, tied the contest up at 24-24. The thrilling set would continue, with neither team willing to let up as Thiel would have match point once again with a 33-32 lead. After an error from the Tomcats that tied the game up at 33-33, a kill from Madison Brentlinger and an ace from Paige Massie (Alvada, Ohio / Arcadia) sealed the third set for Bluffton with a 35-33 win. Opening up the fourth set with a 5-2 lead after an Ella Taylor (Urbana) smash, Bluffton would allow Thiel to tie the game up at 6-6. the Bevers were able to go up 9-6, but the Tomcats would get in a groove and go on a 7-1 spurt to go up 13-10. While Bluffton managed to tie the set up at 15-15, Thiel would get four straight points to take a 19-15 lead. The Beavers were able to cut the Thiel lead to two, but a 4-0 finish to the set from the Tomcats gave them the set 25-19 and the contest 3-1. 

Leading the way for the Beavers was Paige Massie who smacked eight kills with a hitting percentage of .312. Jenna Woulds and Laila Sites would each contribute eight kills a piece as well in the loss. Getting down and scooping up 21 digs was Emma Organ (Lambertville, MI / St. Ursula Academy) while Ella Taylor would dish out 21 assists, with Gabby Williams (West Liberty, Ohio / West Liberty-Salem) adding 16 of her own. 

Bluffton would get game two of the night under, trailing Penn St.-Behrend 4-2 until a 5-0 spurt put them up 7-4 with the run being capped off with a Laila Sites smash. After three straight points from the Lions to tie it up, Bluffton would answer with four more points that included back-to-back service aces from Saniyah Terry (Macomb, MI / L Anse Creuse HS North). While the hosts of the invitational were able to pull within two, the Beavers stayed composed and dominated the rest of the set and cruised to a 25-20 win in the first set, never letting the Lions get within five points. With set two opening up with little runs from each team, Penn St.-Behrend with the hosts taking a 13-12 lead at the midway point. Bluffton would then answer with a kill from Kasey Sager (Troy) to tie up the game and then would explode for 10 straight points until a service error would end the run and put the score at 23-14. After service errors from both teams, a smash from Lauren Leslie (Morral, Ohio / Ridgedale) would end the set with the Beavers taking it 25-15 and going up 2-0 in the contest.The third set started with each team battling, neither team having more than a one point lead until a 4-0 run from the Lions put them up 14-11. After a little run from the Beavers to cut the deficit to one, Penn St.-Behrend would go on to nab an 18-15 after an error from Bluffton at the net. Despite keeping it close, the Beavers were unable to mount a comeback as they fell in set three 25-21. Penn St.-Behrend would carry the momentum into the fourth set, taking a 5-2 lead early on until Bluffton would go on a little run and then taking a 6-5 lead after an attack error from the Lions. The Beavers would hold the lead but a 5-0 spurt from Penn St.-Behrend put the hosts up 18-14, leading to Bluffton timeout. Trailing 23-20, Bluffton managed to get a kill from Paige Massie, pulling thme within two, but they would be unable to mount a comeback, losing the set 25-21 and tying the game up 2-2. The Lions would come out in the fifth set on fire, taking an early 4-0 lead after back-to-back aces and an attack error at the net from the Beavers. Following a service error on Penn St.-Behrend, Bluffton would inch back and pullwithin two after a Jenna Woods kill that cut the deficit to 6-4. but a 4-1 run from the hosts put them in the front seat at 10-5. The Lions would not let up as the gas in the tank would run empty for the Beavers as Penn St.-Behrend would complete the reverse sweep and take the fifth set 15-7, knocking off Bluffton 3-2. 

Bluffton struggled at the net, only hitting .049 for the game with 36 kills and 29 attack errors. While Penn St.-Behrend hit .105, the Beavers did manage to do well at the net, accounting for 14 total blocks in the contest while the Lions only managed to tally four in the outing. Jenna Woods and Kasey Sager would each knock home seven kills a piece, with Sager netting eight blocks in the game with Woods adding four. Scooping up 19 and 13 digs were Emma Organ and Saniyah Terry, while Ella Taylor was able to collect 23 assists in the game. 

The Beavers will have to put the two games in the rearview mirror as kick right back into action Saturday afternoon when they face Geneva at noon, followed up by Fredonia at 2 p.m. on the second day of the PSB Invitational. 

- Beavers -