JOHNSON, Vt. - Johnson State women's volleyball pick up their first win of the young season by edging visiting Unity College 3-2 (25-18, 19-25, 25-18, 24-26, 15-13) in Carter Gym.  JSC led 2-1 and then went down 11-7 in the final set before rallying for the thrilling victory.  Johnson moves to 1-5 overall, 0-0 North Atlantic Conference.

Junior Kylie VanEtten (Montrose, Penn./Elk Lake) dished out 17 assists, picked up 12 digs, had three service aces, and two kills to spark Johnson while freshman Abbie Pridham (Laconia, N.H./Laconia) had a team-high seven service aces.  Jessica Pafumi (Monson, Mass./Monson) had six kills and Alex Benlock (West Haven, Conn./Lyman Hall) and Beth Lilligreen (North Kingstown, R.I./Rhode Island) each had five.  Molly Grover (Cumberland, Maine/Cheverus) had 10 digs and three kills.

Unity was led by the play of Valerie LeClerc (Lebanon, Conn.), Brittany Leike (Port Allen, La.), and Sarab Szirbik (Clinton, Conn.) who combined for 26 kills.  Alex Smith (Havre de Grace, Md.) also had a strong outing recording a match-high 18 assists and digging 14 balls.

JSC led 1-0 and 2-1 in the match but saw a lead slip late in game four as Unity forced the fifth and deciding frame.  The Badgers fell behind 11 before rallying and seeing Pafumi end the match with a kill down the right sideline and off the reaching arms of Unity's Smith.

Johnson will host Lyndon State College on Sunday, September 18 in the next match, a scheduled non-conference contest at 1:00 pm.