LANGHORNE, PA – Women's Volleyball improved to 5-1 as they crossed the halfway point in conference play, sweeping Penn St. Brandywine in Langhorne on Tuesday night.
 
After a brief lead for the Nitany Lions, Cairn (14-3 / 5-1 UNITED EAST) went running behind the serve of freshman opposite Bella Manthe (Manila, Philippines / Faith Academy), dropping in two aces to pull ahead 13-8. With the Highlander lead then narrowed, it was freshman outside hitter Marah Lehman (Chambersburg, PA / Chambersburg) and sophomore middle Maddie Shackelford (Warrington, PA / Plumstead Christian) who got to swinging to keep Cairn in control, the former with two kills (17-15). Junior middle Georgianna Thorpe (Southampton, PA / William Tennent) kept the serve in Manthe's hands again, as the freshman opposite scored another ace, leading to a 24-17 lead. After two errors, junior outside hitter Bridget Dahn (Smithsburg, MD / Heritage Academy) won the set with a kill, assisted by junior setter Anna Dow (Syracuse, NY / Faith Heritage), 25-19.
 
With a 5-2 and 6-4 lead for Penn St. Brandywine (10-8 / 4-2 UNITED EAST), the freshman duo of Manthe and Lehman got to work, Manthe finding space for three kills while Lehman scored back-to-back aces along with a pair of kills, putting Cairn in the lead 10-7. Manthe and Thorpe teamed up for a block ahead of another Highlander run featuring an ace and kill from Dahn, 16-10. The Nittany Lions cut the lead and kept it at two as they fired off attacks. Manthe righted the ship with a kill (20-17) before a five-point run to the finish line with two kills by Manthe and Shackelford scoring an ace on set-point.
 
The narrow leads would end for Brandywine as the Nittany Lions seemed to run out of gas. Lehman secured the Highlander serve with a kill before going on to score another pair of aces. Manthe added a pair of kills as the lead grew to 12-7. Dahn then took over the serve and there was no looking back, managing three aces while Lehman struck for as many kills during the rally, now up 21-8. After two more kills by Brandywine, Lehman sent the Highlander faithful home happy with the match-winning kill, 25-10.
 
Lehman was the only player in double figures with 16 kills on .344% hitting, tied with Dahn for a game-high 4 aces, and a block assist for 20.5 points. Manthe added nine kills (.400% hitting) with three aces for 12.5 points, who, along with Lehman, accounted for 33 of the Highlanders' 57 points on the night. Dahn was next with eight kills and four aces, picking up a team-high 13 digs, while Thorpe contributed five kills. Dow dished out 34 aces.
 
Cairn will head up to the Electric City to face Marywood on Wednesday night before returning to conference play at home on Saturday against Penn St. Harrisburg at 1 p.m.