Senior outside hitter Cailin McCullion pounded a match-high 14 kills and the Misericordia University volleyball team made short-work of Penn-State Harrisburg, sweeping the Lions (25-19, 25-8, 25-17) on Saturday afternoon at the Anderson Center.
 
McCullion also recorded a match-best 14 digs, while Shelby Brochetti and Kat Labrie added eight and seven kills, respectively, for the Cougars.
 
The Cougars started strong in the first match, getting out to an early 8-3 lead on a Lions attack error. However, consecutive Cougar errors allowed PSU-Harrisburg to stay in the match, closing the gap to 11-8.
 
The margin remained three to four points until late in the game, when MU managed to stretch their lead to 21-14. The Lions threatened on back-to-back Melissa Ganz aces, but kills by McCullion and Desirae Waltman sandwiched an ace by Tori Dziedziak to close the set.
 
In the second game, McCullion smashed three kills early to give the Cougars a 6-2 lead and got another kill a few moments later to make the score 9-4. Shelby Brochetti landed to kills of her own to help MU extend its lead to 13-5.
 
After both teams traded a few points, freshman Lexi Giannone rattled off 10 consecutive service points, including a pair of aces, to give the Cougars a 25-8 second game win.
 
MU jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first set on the serve of Samantha Baro, who notched a pair of aces in the rally. The Lions responded, rattling off a 14-10 run to keep things within striking distance at 18-14. However, the Cougars used a McCullion kill and a LaBrie ace to increase the lead to 23-15 and held on for the 25-17 victory.
 
The Cougars return to action on Tuesday, hosting FDU-Florham at 7:00 PM in a match that will be critical to MU's Freedom Conference tournament hopes.