MIDDLETOWN, PA – Cairn Women's Volleyball ended their season at the hands of #4 Penn State Harrisburg on Saturday, failing 3-1 in the United East Women's Volleyball Championship – Quarterfinal.
 
Penn St. Harrisburg (18-7 / 8-2 UNITED EAST) began the day on a run, scoring nine points out of the gate to the Highlanders' two and stretching the lead to 12-5. Junior defensive specialist Delaney Hollenbeck (Kingsley, PA / Lackawanna College) took the serve next for Cairn (16-7 / 7-3 UNITED EAST), scoring two aces as freshman middle Maddie Shackelford (Warrington, PA / Plumstead Christian) sent an attack back to where it come from with a solo block to cut the lead to three. Both squads matched attacks until the Nittany Lions sprinted into another run, going back ahead by eight, handing Cairn two late points on service errors before they took the set 25-17.
 
The Nittany Lions had the lead to start the second set, going ahead 5-2 before a run by Cairn gave the Highlanders the lead, 8-6, and forced a timeout. Out of the break, Harrisburg took the lead back briefly before another solo block from Shackelford swung the lead back in Cairn's direction. The Highlanders sustained their lead into an 11-1 run to finish the set behind three kills and a solo block from sophomore middle Georgianna Thorpe (Southampton, PA / William Tennent) to win the set 25-14.
 
To open the third set, Penn St. Harrisburg found their way ahead 10-6 before senior opposite Hendryl Peabody (Bensalem, PA / Faith Baptist Christian Academy) hammered down two kills leading to the Highlanders tying the score at thirteen apiece. The Nittany Lions were the first to twenty points with Cairn making an effort to beat them to the finish but would come up short as Penn St. Harrisburg took a 2-1 set lead, winning set three by a tight 25-21 score.
 
Set four opened with an ace by senior outside hitter Caroline Conrad (Bangkok, Thailand / International Community School) with two more points coming off the jump. Harrisburg tied the score and held on until Thorpe added another kill and teamed up with Conrad for a block assist now ahead 11-6. Their lead was cut to two, but the Highlanders narrowly held on prior to a six-point run to put the Nittany Lions up 19-15. From there, Penn St. Harrisburg was off to the finish, scoring the final three unanswered points to win the match, 25-20.
 
Conrad finished with a game-high 14 kills with three aces. Peabody ended with twelve kills. Thope rounded out the double-digit scoring with ten kills and two total blocks. Shackelford tallied three total blocks along with two kills as graduate setter Olivia Zepp (Westminster, MD / Francis Scott Key) added two kills and 36 assists and Hollenbeck had a pair of aces.