BEREA, Ohio—Buffalo State (5-2) battled to a spit in a pair of hard-fought matches, falling in four sets to host Baldwin-Wallace (3-3), before claiming a four-set win over  Westminster (3-3) in the opening day at the Marcia French Invitational.

The Bengals played a tight match against the Yellow Jackets, but fell 24-26, 15-25, 29-27 and 22-25 in the opener.  Hannah Renaldo (N. Collins/N. Collins) had a team-best 14 kills, and Sam Parente (E. Patchogue/Bellport) added 12.  Sarah Horvath (Blasdell/Immaculata) added nine kills and 22 digs, and Kelsey Bashore (Antwerp, OH/Antwerp) had 40 assists and 13 digs.

In the late match, the Bengals prevailed over Westminster, 34-32, 25-23, 27-29 and 25-13.  Parente and Renaldo led the offense again with 19 and 16 kills respectively.  Bashore dished out 55 assists, while Chelsea Moore (Kenmore/Kenmore West) had 45 digs.

Buffalo State will wrap up the Marcia French Invitational tomorrow against Franciscan at 10:30 a.m. and Wooster at 12:30 p.m.