The Golden Bears (15-5 overall) dropped the opening set 24-26, but rallied to win the next three sets 25-19, 25-19, and 25-21.
 
KU has now won four of its last five matches and appears to be gaining momentum heading into the latter half of the season.  The break from conference play gave head women's volleyball coach John Gump the chance to shuffle up his rotation a bit and try out some different looks against the Lions (5-15).
 
Nicole Brumbley (Oxford, PA/Oxford) and Danielle Van Buren (Bethlehem, Pa./Saucon Valley) each started their first match of the season Monday night and wasted no time taking advantage of the opportunity.  Brumbley finished with three kills in her four sets.  More importantly, the sophomore tallied a game-high seven block assists.
 
In her third match of the year, Van Buren earned some valuable experience in her freshman season. At 6'1”, Van Buren finished with one kill on three attacks.  She also finished with three blocks assists.
 
“This was a nice win on the road for us,” Gump said.  “We did a nice job recovering after letting a 24-21 lead slip away in the first set.  Our passers stepped up late and really handled well down the stretch to help us close out the match.”
 
Cait Hess (Newark, DE/St. Mark's) and Cali Snell (York, PA/York Suburban) led the Golden Bears with seven kills apiece.  The duo also leads the team in total kills this season. Hess now has 165 kills this season followed by Snell with 149.  Fellow senior Erin Kissling (York, PA/Central York) is third on KU with 141 after driving home four kills against GCU.
 
In her second straight start at libero, junior Brittany Harman (Hanover, PA/South Western) picked up a game-high 21 digs.  She also had one KU's two service aces.
 
Liz DiValerio (King of Prussia, PA/Upper Merion) had six kills in the victory. The sophomore has had at least five kills in each of the last three matches for KU, along with seven matches this season.  DiValerio also had 16 digs, the second-most in her career.
 
The Lions were led by Tatiana Villariny with 24 kills.  Amy Berry added 11 kills for GCU and Maria Antimisiaris finished with eight.  Jaslene Lopez dished out an eye-opening 44 assists in the victory.
 
After tying the match at one, KU recorded a .353 hitting percentage in the third set to help fuel it to an eventual victory.  It also finished with 14 total blocks.
 
The Golden Bears return to action this weekend as they host a bevy of crossover games in a two-day event beginning on Friday, Oct. 8.