The BG volleyball team has advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, defeating Yale in a hard-fought five set match in University Park, Pa. on Friday night.
With both teams tied at two sets apiece, BG and Yale battled back and forth in the crucial deciding set. With the score tied at 10, BG won five of the next six points to secure their spot in round two.
After Yale won the first set 25-16, the Falcons came back with two consecutive set victories of their own, needing just one more to clinch the best of five victory. Yale, however, returned with a dominant 25-13 fourth set that sent the squads to a deciding first-to-15 set.
The Falcons were led by juniors Paige Penrod and Lindsey Butterfield with 16 and 14 kills respectively. Also hitting double digits in kills was senior Leah Shaw with 10.
With their first round victory, the Falcons are set to play round two tomorrow against the winner of first-ranked Penn State and Binghamton. With a win, Penn State would secure home court advantage against the Falcons on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.