LANCASTER, Pa. - Hood College freshman Payton Belella (Smithsburg, Md. / Smithsburg) broke the school's single season assist record as the Blazers defeated Lancaster Bible and Wesley in a tri-match.

Scores against the Chargers were 18-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-23. Against the Wolverines, Hood won 13-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-25, 15-11.

Belella, who needed just two assists to tie the mark of 752 by Robin Deniker in 2000, had 73 total assists and became the first player in school history to top 800 in a season. She finished the afternoon with 823 assists for the year. 

Elena Young (Hagerstown, Md. / South Hagerstown) had a total of 31 kills in the two wins, bringing her season tally to 281, the second-highest single season mark at Hood. She also had eight total service aces.

Kari Betson (Frederick, Md. / Frederick) had 31 combined digs.

The Blazers improved to 15-12 on the year with the wins, the most for the program since 2001.

HOOD 3, LANCASTER BIBLE 1

Young had 12 kills and just one error in the match, hitting .407. Courtney Hutchinson (Burtonsville, Md. / Blake) had a strong performance with 11 kills, a .444 hitting percentage and three blocks. Belella dished out 33 assists. Brenna Elizondo (Littleton, Colo. / Resurrection) served up four aces, one more than Young. 

Belella set the assists record early in the first set when she set the ball up for a Betson kill that pulled the Blazers within 7-6. 

In the second set, Hood fell behind early, but Young served up three straight aces to put the Blazers ahead 11-9. Hood used a 14-5 run in the third set to go ahead 21-11, eventually taking the set and a 2-1 lead. In the fourth set, with the score tied 23-23, Young had a pair of kills to finish the match. 

Alyssa Bowen led all players with 14 kills, while Emily Olson added 12. Hannah Derr was credited with 32 assists. Four players had double figure assists, including Grace Scheuerman and Hannah Gipe with 12 apiece. 

HOOD 3, WESLEY 2

Hood again dropped the first set, but regrouped to outlast the Wolverines in five sets. 

Young had 19 kills in the match, five aces and five blocks. Belella tallied 40 assists and 14 digs. Betson had nine kills and 13 digs. Elizondo's 17 digs led the team. Hutchinson added three blocks. 

The Blazers struggled with their first set hitting, but rebounded in the second set. Young had four consecutive aces, followed by back-to-back kills by Betson for a 15-5 lead. The Blazers took a 2-1 lead in the match, but Wesley opened the fourth set with a 10-4 run and sent the match to a fifth set. Wesley called a timeout trailing 7-4, but a 4-1 run by Hood followed to give the Blazers an 11-5 advantage. After the Wolverines pulled within 12-10, Young had three kills over a span of four points to finish the match. 

Tionne Graves-Brown had 14 kills for Wesley and 18 digs. Jessica Tynes added 12 kills and Beth Schlecker notched 35 assists. Charlene Coyne led the team with five blocks, while Tania Rounds and Schlecker added three apiece.

Hood plays another tri-match on Saturday, October 24 at Catholic with East. Mennonite.