WASHINGTON, D.C. – The SUNYIT Women's Volleyball Team (25-3, 9-1 NEAC) earned a split on Saturday in their final two NEAC pairings. The Wildcats fell to Gallaudet in the day's first matchup before rebounding with a  3-0 victory over Penn St.-Abington. 

Gallaudet – the traditional powerhouse in the NEAC conference – used their home court advantage to good effect on Saturday, besting SUNYIT in straight sets by scores of 25-16, 25-18, and 25-18.

SUNYIT couldn't seem to get its big hitters going, as Kaitlyn Harrington (Central Square, N.Y. / Paul V. Moore) led the Wildcats with 7 kills. Conversely, Bison hitter Kali Frowlick led all players with 16 kills on 28 attempts, good for a .500 hitting percentage.

As a team, the Bison out hit the Wildcats .333 to .146.

Obviously smarting from their first conference loss of the year, SUNYIT responded in the day's second match by taking care of business against Penn St.-Abington.

The 'Cats showed great mental toughness in winning the match's first set 29-27, then settled in to take the next two 25-12 and 25-19.

Hanne Saarinen (Lempaala, Finland / Tampereen Lyseon Lukio) led the Wildcats with 9 kills on 26 attempts, while Deasia Goodson (Freeport, N.Y. / Freeport) played well defensively, adding 2 solo blocks and 2 assisted blocks.

The Wildcats are now in a 3-way tie in the loss column with Keuka (8-1 NEAC) and Gallaudet (9-1 NEAC), and will await the results of the conference tie-breaker rules to see who will host the conference tournament this year as the league's number 1 seed. Details to follow as they become available.

Next up for SUNYIT is the team's senior night, which will take place this Wednesday at 6:30 pm. The Wildcats will take on Oswego State.