By Wesley Evans

BUENA VISTA, Va.—Behind 15 kills from freshman outside hitter Vanessa Pawlak, the Southern Virginia University women's volleyball team defeated York College of Pennsylvania, 3-1, Saturday afternoon by scores of 25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16 in its Homecoming match in Buena Vista, Virginia.

York (9-15, 2-1 CAC) jumped out to a quick lead in the first game as the Knights (14-7, 2-1 CAC) got off to a slow start, committing five errors to give the Spartans a 6-2 advantage. The visitors led for most of the first frame before Southern Virginia slowly crawled back to knot the score at 20-20. The Knights then rallied off five straight points with the help of four consecutive Spartan errors to take game one.

Game two featured a close back-and-forth battle as the two squads traded points for much of the contest. A late 5-0 run by York would eventually help solidify game two and tie the match at 1-1.

Southern Virginia then took control as it would not relinquish a lead in games three and four. The Spartans were unable to stop the Knights' offensive attack and the home team took advantage of 49 York errors to earn the victory.

Pawlak led all players with her 15 kills on the afternoon, while also giving the Knights 15 digs on the defensive side of the net. Calyn Barry pitched in eight kills of her own with setter Katelynn Tlustek and Valerie Arkansas helping Southern Virginia with 19 and 18 kills, respectively.

Defensively, April Bennett again led the home team with 18 digs, while Melissa Owen and Kaitlyn Eaton recorded five blocks each.

Volleyball is back in conference action on Wednesday, Oct. 15, as it hosts the University of Mary Washington. The first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.