HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. – The Centenary University volleyball team kicked off its 2021 home campaign in spectacular fashion with a pair of wins during Saturday's tri-match versus Penn State Hazleton and The King's College (N.Y.).

Centenary opened its day with a 3-0 win over Penn State Hazleton and then battled for a five set thrilling victory over King's, 3-2.

Penn State Hazleton Recap: It was all about the service aces against the Nittany Lions for the Cyclones. Centenary cranked out 33 service aces in the match and leading that effort was freshman Jessica Simpson, who had 10.

Centenary won the match by set scores of 25-10, 25-5 and 25-7.

Junior Emerald Richard hit an impressive .583 with seven kills while sophomore Alyssa Bizzarro contributed five kills, eight service aces and four digs. Senior Amelia Rodriguez dished out 13 assists while sophomore Martina Josifoska added seven digs and six service aces.

Ally Banta led Penn State Hazleton with five assists and four digs.

King's Recap: It was a back-and-forth battle against King's for Centenary in the final match of the day. Centenary jumped out to a 2-0 lead with set wins of 25-16 and 25-23. King's was not done fighting though as it took the third set, 25-23 and forced the match to a decisive fifth set with a 25-20 win in the fourth.

Centenary trailed 5-3 in the fifth and battled through three ties to secure the 15-13 set win and a victory in the match.

Richard continued her strong hitting performance with 17 kills as she hit .625 for the match. Bizzarro added six kills, six service aces and 12 digs while Rodriguez finished with a double-double (21 assists and 13 digs). Josifoska had a strong performance on the back line as she posted 25 digs and four service aces.

Bella Rush had 15 kills and 17 digs for King's.

Centenary will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 11 when it hosts a tri-match featuring Rutgers Camden and King's College (Pa.) starting at 11 a.m.