In the first day of the 2009 SVC Bearcat Challenge Invitational, the Lady Bearcats split a pair of matches, defeating Carlow University in four sets before dropping another four-set match to Pitt-Bradford.

After dropping the first set to Carlow, 19-25, the Lady Bearcats stormed back to win three straight, by scores of 25-16, 25-23, and 25-20.

Statistically, six different players recorded at least five kills, led by 12 from Diana Petrovich.  Natalie Hozak led the way with 13 digs, while Taylor Guido added 13, as well as three blocks.  Devin McGrath also enjoyed a solid match in her first collegiate action, tallying 19 assists and six kills.

In the nightcap against Pitt-Bradford, Lady Bearcats started strong, winning the opener 25-9.  The Panthers then roared back to win three straight, 25-20, 25-9, and 25-23.

Christa Calgaro led the way defensively in the losing effort, posting 21 digs, while Hozak added 20.  Guido led SVC with nine kills, while McGrath and Jessica Covelli each dished 17 assists.

With a pair of victories in the second day of the Saint Vincent Bearcat Challenge, the Lady Bearcats finished the opening weekend of the season with a 3-1 record.

In the opening match of the day, the Lady Bearcats made quick work of Ursuline College, defeating the Arrows in three games by scores of 25-22, 25-18, and 25-23.

Rachel Pace led the SVC offense with 15 kills, while teammate Diana Petrovich added 10.  Taylor Guido posted 22 digs in the victory, with Natalie Hozak adding 14 and Christa Calgaro 12.  Devin McGrath dished 23 assists.

In their second match of the day, the Lady Bearcats closed out the tournament with a 3-2 win over Houghton College.

Houghton won the first set by a 25-20 score, before SVC evened the match by winning the second game 25-17.  The Highlanders took the third set, 25-16, before the Lady Bearcats won the next two sets 25-23 and 15-12.

Natalie Hozak and Taylor Guido each posted double-doubles, with Hozak notching 15 kills and 20 digs, and Guido 15 kills and 13 digs.  Petrovich was a third player recording double-digit kills, finishing with 10 to go with three blocks.  McGrath and Jessica Covelli each dished 27 assists.

The Lady Bearcats were defeated on the road 3-0 by Juniata College, ranked second in NCAA Division-III.  Scores were 25-19, 25-7, and 25-21.

Natalie Hozak led the way offensively for Saint Vincent, tallying eight kills, while Taylor Guido added seven.  Guido and Christa Calgaro shared the team lead with eight digs apiece, while Dawn Timko notched a pair of service aces.

The Lady Bearcats split a pair of matches on the first day of the Washington & Jefferson Tournament.

Against Penn State-Altoona, SVC opened with a 25-18 win, then lost the second game 25-12.  The teams then split games three and four, before PSA won the deciding fifth game by a 17-15 margin.

Taylor Guido led the attack with 14 kills, while Natalie Hozak had 11.  Devin McGrath posted 9 kills, four blocks and 22 assists.  Jessica Covelli added 20 assists, while Rachel Pace had 5 blocks.

Later in the day, SVC defeated Thiel College by a score of three games to one.  The teams split the first two matches by identical 25-14 scores, before SVC came back and won the final two, 25-21 and 25-16.

Diana Petrovich posted 10 kills, while Hozak added 8 and Guido had 7.  McGrath had 20 assists and Pace tallied five blocks.

The Lady Bearcats went 1-1 on the final day of the Washington & Jefferson Invitational Tournament, losing to Salisbury before rebounding with a marathon win over Susquehanna.

In the morning match with nationally-ranked Salisbury, the Lady Bearcats were defeated in three sets, with scores of 12-25, 15-25, and 20-25.

The team then bounced back with a 3-2 win over Susquehanna.  After dropping the first set 27-29, the Lady Bearcats came back with idential 25-21 wins in the second and third set.  Susquehanna evened it at 2-2 with a 25-19 win in the fourth set, before the Lady Bearcats closed out the match with a 15-9 win in the fifth and deciding set.  

In a back-and-forth match, the Lady Bearcats were defeated 3-2 by visiting Carnegie Mellon in the Carey Center.

In the opener, SVC took the 1-0 lead with a 25-17 victory.  CMU answered back to take the second set, 25-18, before the Lady Bearcats went ahead 2-1 in the third with a 25-17 win.

The set of the evening was the fourth, as the Lady Bearcats jumped out to a 6-1 lead.  CMU stormed back, eventually tying it up at 10.  The teams then traded points, sharing four leads over the next several moments before the Lady Bearcats took a 24-23 lead on a Taylor Guido kill.  CMU again battled back, scoring the next two points, but SVC managed to tie it at 25.  CMU ended it, however, earning the next two points to tie the match up at 2-2 with the 27-25 win.

The Tartans momentum carried over into the tie-breaking fifth set, as CMU stormed out to leads of 8-2 and 12-5, before holding off a late SVC rally to win the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.

Natalie Hozak led the way for the Lady Bearcats with 17 kills, while adding 21 digs.  Taylor Guido had 16 kills and 19 digs, while Diana Petrovich contributed with 15 kills.  Devin McGrath also had a strong all-around game, posting 45 assists along with 24 digs.

The Lady Bearcats earned a pair of wins over Presidents' Athletic Conference foes, sweeping a tri-match at Chatham University by defeating the host Cougars 3-0 after beating Grove City 3-1.

In the Grove City contest, the Lady Bearcats won by scores of 23-25, 25-16, 25-22, and 25-23.  Natalie Hozak led the SVC offense with 14 kills, while Taylor Guido added 12 and Devin McGrath eight.  Rachel Pace and Dawn Timko were also solid up front, each turning in four blocks apiece.

Against Chatham, scores were 25-11, 25-11, and 25-17.  Diana Petrovich again had a strong performance, turning in nine kills, while Ashlee Cowles turned in five kills and five blocks.  Brianna Butterworth served three aces.

The Thomas More Saints defeated SVC in three straight games in the Carey Center.

Diana Petrovich led SVC with 13 kills, while Christa Calgaro had 15 digs.  Natalie Hozak added 11 digs, and Devin McGrath recorded 22 assists. 

The Lady Bearcats returned to winning form in a big way, sweeping a pair of Presidents' Athletic Conference foes in straight sets.

In a PAC triangular match held at Westminster College, the Lady Bearcats opened the evening with a 3-0 victory over the host Titans, winning by scores of 27-25, 25-18, and 29-27.

Taylor Guido led the way with 12 kills in the win, while Diana Petrovich added nine and Natalie hozak eight.  Rachel Pace contributed five blocks, and Dawn Timko four.

In their second match of the night, the Lady Bearcats then defeated Chatham 3-0, with scores of 26-24, 25-21, and 25-10.

Pace again had a big game, recording 10 kills, while Devin McGrath dished out 24 assists.

The Lady Bearcats put together a strong effort in their 3-0 win at Washington & Jefferson.

After winning a close first set, 25-23, the Lady Bearcats took charge, taking the second set 25-7 before ending the match with a 25-19 victory in set number three.

Diana Petrovich led the way for SVC, recording eight kills and six service aces, while teammate Natalie Hozak posted six kills and three aces.

The Lady Bearcats posted a pair of convincing victories in a Presidents' Athletic Conference triangular match hosted by Waynesburg University.

In the first match of the afternoon, the Lady Bearcats used a balanced offensive attack to defeat Geneva College 3-1, with scores of 25-12, 25-13,19-25, and 25-14.

Diana Petrovich led the way for SVC, posting 12 kills and five blocks.  Natalie Hozak posted 10 kills, Taylor Guido seven, and Dawn Timko six.  Guido and Timko each added five blocks apiece, while Devin McGrath posted 35 assists. 

The Lady Bearcats then closed out the afternoon by sweeping past host Waynesburg 3-0, with scores of 25-17, 26-24, and 25-23.  Guido led the way with 11 kills, with Hozak adding 10, Timko and Petrovich eight apiece, and McGrath seven.  Petrovich and Rachel Pace shared the team lead with four blocks apiece.

The Lady Bearcats defeated Bethany College 3-1 in a Sunday matinee in the Robert S. Carey Center, extending their winning streak to six.

Scores were 25-16, 16-25, 25-17, and 29-27.

In the opening set, the Lady Bearcats came out strong, using a 10-2 run midway through, capped off with back-to-back Natalie Hozak kills, to open up a 15-5 lead. 

SVC's advantage continued to grow, with a Hozak ace putting the Lady Bearcats up 19-7, and then a Diana Petrovich spike making the score 22-8.  Bethany attempted to rally late, but the deficit was too large to overcome, and the Lady Bearcats won the opening game 25-16.

The fortunes were reversed in the second set, as Bethany jumped out to a 16-6 lead after scoring eight straight points. The Lady Bearcats were able to trim the deficit to eight - 21-13 - before the Bison pulled away for the 25-16 win.

In the third set, the Lady Bearcats found themselves down early by scores of 9-6 and 13-11, but stormed back, with a block by Hozak putting SVC up 15-14, the team's first lead in the set since an early 5-3 advantage.

From there, the Lady Bearcats seized the momentum, with Hozak cashing in on a pair of kills and Dawn Timko tallying a block and an ace, to put the hosts up 2-1 in the match with the 25-17 victory.

In the fourth set, the Lady Bearcats jumped to an early 3-0 lead on a Hozak ace, but the Bison refused to go away, fighting back to eventually take a 10-9 lead.  Saint Vincent was able to tie the set on four different occasions, but the Lady Bearcats were unable to regain the lead until another ace from Timko gave SVC a 23-22 advantage.

Again, the Bison fought back, quickly tying the set at 23, before going being on the verge three times of winning the set, as they had leads of 25-24, 26-25, and 27-26.  SVC refused to give up the game point, and after a Taylor Guido spike tied the set at 27, another kill by Timko allowed the Lady Bearcats to regain the lead at 28-27.  On the ensuing rally, a Bethany kill attempt went long, giving SVC the set 29-27 and the match 3-1.

Petrovich and Guido led the SVC offense on the day, posting 15 and 13 kills, respectively, while Timko enjoyed a solid all-around match, with seven kills, five blocks, and three aces.   Rachel Pace was also strong up front, posting four blocks, while Devin McGrath dished out 46 assists.

For the second time in eight days, the Lady Bearcats defeated Washington & Jefferson College in three straight games.

Following a 3-0 win on September 29, Saint Vincent downed the Presidents by scores of 25-15, 25-21 and 25-18.

Taylor Guido posted 9 kills and 11 digs, while Diana Petrovich had 9 kills and a pair of aces.  Dawn Timko and Natalie Hozak each had six kills, while Timko added two blocks.  Hozak also recorded 15 digs and two aces.

Christa Calgaro led the back line with 22 digs, while setter Devin McGrath had 37 assists.

The Lady Bearcats defeated the Catholic University 3-0 in the opening match of the two-day Gallaudet University tournament in Washington, DC.  Scores were 25-21, 25-10, and 25-19.

Diana Petrovich led the way for SVC, recording 11 kills, four aces, and three blocks.  Taylor Guido added eight kills, while Natalie Hozak posted seven kills and three aces.  Rachel Pace and Dawn Timko shared the team lead with three blocks apiece, and Devin McGrath dished out 39 assists.

Later in the day, SVC faced McDaniel College, winning the first game 25-14.  After McDaniel took the second game by a 25-22 margin, SVC stormed back to win the next two games, 25-20 and 25-15 to complete a 2-0 day. 

Petrovich posted 12 kills in the McDaniel match, while Timko added 11.  Guido and Hozak each had 9 kills, while McGrath tallied 7 blocks and 42 assists.

SVC earned a split on the second day of the Gallaudet University Tournament, finishing second overall.

In the morning session, SVC defeated the University of Rochester, 3-1.

RIT won the opening game by a 25-22 score, but the Lady Bearcats fought back to win the next three:  25-17, 25-16 and 25-16.  Diana Petrovich led the team with 17 kills, while Taylor Guido added 11 kills and six blocks.  Dawn Timko recorded 9 kills and 7 blocks, and Devin McGrath had 49 assists.

In the Championship match, Gallaudet won the first game, 25-20, and SVC evened the score with a 25-14 win in game two.  However, the hosts took the next two games by scores of 25-19 and 25-21.

Diana Petrovich and Taylor Guido were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Thiel College upended the Lady Bearcats in Greenville, PA in five games.

Saint Vincent won the first game by a score of 25-21, then Thiel took game two by a 25-20 margin.  Saint Vincent opened up a 2-1 lead with a convincing 25-13 win in the third game, but Thiel responded by winning the fourth game, 25-22, and the tiebreaking fifth game by a 15-12 margin to earn the win.

Taylor Guido recorded 16 kills, while Diana Petrovich and Dawn Timko added 15 each.  Devin McGrath added 32 digs and 49 assists, while Natalie Hozak had 28 digs and Christa Calgaro recorded 25.   

The Lady Bearcats snapped their two-match losing streak with a 3-0 win over visiting Westminster

Scores were 25-15, 25-17, and 25-22.

In the opening set, the Lady Bearcats took control early, jumping out to leads of 7-1, 9-2, and 17-6.  The Titans attempted to rally, pulling to within 18-12, but the Lady Bearcats then put the set away, with a Natalie Hozak spike sealing the deal for the 25-15 win.

The second set of the evening was back-and-forth in the early going, with the teams sharing four ties and five lead changes before SVC went on a 3-1 run to go ahead 13-11.   The hosts controlled momentum the rest of the way, scoring eight of the next 11 points to open up a 21-14 lead.  Westminster pulled to within 21-17, but SVC scored the final four points, wrapping up the set on a Titan error.

Saint Vincent scored the first point of the third set, but Westminster responded in a big way, opening up leads of 6-1, 9-5, and 18-12.

The Titans eventually stretched their lead to 20-13, before an SVC time out.   The Lady Bearcats then regrouped in a hurry, scoring nine of the next 12 points to tie the set at 21.

SVC took a 22-21 lead on a Hozak solo block, before the sophomore wrapped up the comeback win with a spike to give the Lady Bearcats the 25-22 set victory and the 3-0 match win.

Hozak enjoyed a big night offensively, tallying 17 kills.  Dawn Timko added nine kills and Taylor Guido eight, while Devin McGrath dished out 39 assists.  The Lady Bearcats were also solid around the net all evening, posting 11 blocks as a team, led by four apiece from Timko and Rachel Pace, and two from Guido.

The Lady Bearcats earned a 3-2 road victory over Bethany College. 

After dropping the first set of the night 22-25, the Lady Bearcats charged back to take a 2-1 lead with 25-17 and 25-12 victories.  Bethany evened the match at 2-2 with a 21-25 win in the fourth set, before SVC sealed the win with a convincing 15-6 triumph in the tiebreaking fifth set.

The balanced SVC offense was led by Natalie Hozak, who recorded 16 kills, while Diana Petrovich added 14 and Taylor 13.   The Lady Bearcats were also strong at the net, with Rachel Pace tallying a career-high eight blocks.  Dawn Timko added seven, and Devin McGrath five.

McGrath also finished with a career-high 54 assists, while Christa Calgaro led the SVC defense with 22 digs.  Lundy Sobek posted a team-high three service aces.

Saint Vincent defeated Thiel College three games to one before falling by an identical score to host Thomas More College in a tri-match.

Thiel opened the day with a 25-22 win over SVC, but the Lady Bearcats stormed back to take the next three games, 25-18, 25-15 and 25-18.  

Against Thomas More, Saint Vincent dropped the opening two games, 25-14 and 25-18, but captured game three by a 25-21 margin.  However, the team could not complete the comeback, losing the fourth game by a score of 25-17.

Against Thiel, Dawn Timko recorded 12 kills and 9 blocks, while Taylor Guido added 11 kills and 6 blocks.  Natalie Hozak chipped in with 11 kills and four blocks, while Rachel Pace had six blocks and Diana Petrovich posted five.  The Lady Bearcats also recorded 19 team blocks as they dominated play at the net.  Devin McGrath had 36 assists.

In the second match, Timko had six kills, while Guido, Hozak and Petrovich recorded five each.  Pace led the front line with five blocks.

The Lady Bearcats picked up a decisive 3-0 victory over visiting Waynesburg on Dig for the Cure night in the Carey Center.

Scores were 25-13, 25-12, and 25-5.

In the opener, SVC started strong, taking a 4-0 lead on a Taylor Guido spike.  The lead continued to grow for the hosts, as they jumped up 10-3 on a Dawn Timko put down and 18-9 on a Natalie Hozak ace.  Timko then single-handedly finished off the set, posting two kills and a block to give the Lady Bearcats the opening set by 25-13.

Waynesburg started strong in the evening's second set, scoring the first two points before eventually opening up an 8-5 advantage.  The Lady Bearcats then came roaring back in a big way, going on an extended 15-3 run that was capped off by another Guido kill to put SVC ahead 20-11. 

A Waynesburg error made the score 21-11, before the Lady Bearcats closed out the set with kills by Hozak and Rachel Pace and an ace from Timko, putting the hosts in front 2-0 with the 25-12 win.

In the evening's third and final set, the Lady Bearcats got rolling early, scoring the first nine points, two coming on aces from Hozak.  Waynesburg temporarily stopped the run, taking advantage of a service error to make the score 9-1, before SVC took charge again, eventually extending its lead to 17-1.

The Lady Bearcats then cruised down the stretch, out-scoring the Yellow Jackets 8-4 over the final stages to score the dominant 25-5 set win and the 3-0 match victory.

Guido had a big night offensively for the Lady Bearcats, posting a match-high 13 kills.  Timko and Hozak added six kills, while Petrovich and Pace finished with five kills apiece.

Defensively, Hozak notched 16 digs and Christa Calgaro 14, while Timko led SVC with three solo blocks.  The Lady Bearcats were also strong on the serve throughout the evening, with Hozak posting four aces and Calgaro two.

The Lady Bearcats earned a 3-0 sweep on the road over Grove City College.

In the opener, SVC won by a count of 25-15, before taking set two 25-11 and winning the third and decisive set again by a 25-15 score.

SVC displayed a balanced offense in the victory, led by Diana Petrovich's eight kills.  Dawn Timko added nine kills, and Taylor Guido and Natalie Hozak seven kills apiece.

Hozak added four aces and Lundy Sobek three, while Guido notched three blocks, tying teammate Rachel Pace for the match high.

The visiting Golden Tornadoes of Geneva College defeated the Lady Bearcats 3-2 on Senior Day at Saint Vincent.

After opening the evening with a decisive 25-11 win in the opening set, SVC saw Geneva take the second game 25-19.

The third set was back-and-forth throughout, with the teams sharing 11 lead changes, and Geneva looked prime to put it away going up 24-20.  The Lady Bearcats then stormed back, scoring the next five points to go ahead 25-24, capped off with back-to-back kills by Natalie Hozak.  SVC then took leads of 26-25, 27-26, and 28-27, before a solo block by Taylor Guido gave the Lady Bearcats the 29-27 third set win to go up 2-1 in the match.

With a 25-16 win in the fourth set, Geneva set up a decisive fifth set tie breaker, in which the Golden Tornadoes got off to a hot start, taking leads of 6-1 and 11-4.

The Lady Bearcats then began the comeback, eventually pulling to 12-9 on another Hozak kill, and 14-12 on a Diana Petrovich kill.  It was as close as the hosts would get, however, as Geneva iced the set and the match 15-12.