LATROBE, Pa. – In the first athletic contest of Allegheny College's Bicentennial celebration, the Gator volleyball squad provided a historic moment by awarding head coach Bridget Sheehan her 600th career victory, 3-0, over Waynesburg in an eventual split during the first day of the 2014 Saint Vincent Bearcat Challenge at the Robert S. Carey Center. The Gators would upend the Yellow Jackets, 25-16, 25-7 and 25-17 before dropping a 3-0 decision to hosting Saint Vincent, 25-13, 25-21, 25-22.

With the victory, Sheehan becomes the 23rd coach in NCAA Division III history and the only active coach in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) to surpass the 600-win plateau. Leading the charge for the Gators' first victory of the 2014 campaign was a combination of seasoned veterans and fresh faces, highlighted by a 11-kill performance by freshman Alyssa Lebowitz that saw the freshman strike for a .611 clip.
 

Senior Catherine Kasianowicz recorded 21 digs, while freshman Justine Kelly made a strong debut at setter with 21 assists. Junior Sarah Swartz led the squad with four service aces, adding five kills while fellow third- year Taylor Samuel racked up seven kills.

The Gators took an early, 10-3 lead in the first set, capped by back-to-back blocks by Samuel and Swartz and a three-point run from Swartz. The Yellow Jackets responded with a 6-1 run to slice the lead to two, tying the match at 16-16 before the Gators erupted for nine unanswered points to close out the set, highlighted by a eight-point serving run by Samuel.

In the second set, a five-point run from Kasianowicz and a four-point run from freshman Kylee Karczewski put the Gators up, 11-2, early in the set. A 9-2 run helped clinch the match for the Blue and Gold, as freshman Terra Schall capped the second set win on the serve, as fellow first year Leah Franzluebbers added a block in the final stanza to help put the Gators up, 2-0. Despite Waynesburg cutting another early Gator lead to one midway through the set, another scoring run from Karczewski put the Gators ahead for good.

Kelly finished the contest with a service ace, clinching Sheehan's 600th win in the process.

Lebowitz followed her impressive collegiate debut with a 15-kill performance against the hosting Bearcats, while Kelly racked up 29 assists. After falling, 25-13, in the first set, the Gators battled back and forth against Saint Vincent in the second and third, taking an early, 6-1 advantage in the second set. Holding a 20-16 lead, the Bearcats went up 2-0 in the match with a 9-1, set-closing run, racking up four kills and a pair of service aces on the Gators.

The two squads battled back and forth in the third, holding at a 9-9 stalemate until another offensive run by the Bearcats put the host team up, 14-10. A 5-1 answering run from Allegheny knotted the contest once again at 15-15, but again the Bearcats responded, shaking off back-to-back kills by Lebowitz en route to a 7-2 run that resulted in a 22-17 lead. Kelly led a five-point run to tie the game one final time at 22-22, but three straight points from Saint Vincent ended the Gators' comeback hopes.

Allegheny will return to the Carey Center on Saturday for a pair of games to close out their Bearcat Challenge schedule. The Gators will first battle Pitt-Greensburg at 9 a.m. before taking on Franciscan at 1 p.m.