Lady Lions Come Back to Defeat Mount Aloysius 3-2
ALTOONA, Pa. - Trailing 2-0 in Tuesday night's match in the Adler Arena, the Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team embarked on a furious comeback to defeat their nearby Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference rival Mount Aloysius College 3-2.
Mount Aloysius (10-10, 2-2 AMCC) won the first two sets of the match, both by a score of 25-23. But Penn State Altoona (9-8, 5-0 AMCC) won the next three 25-21, 25-15, and 25-6 to win the match and stay undefeated in the conference.
The Lady Lions' Josie Stovall (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) led all players with 16 kills, and she also contributed 15 digs, two block assists, and one solo block. Lauren Diller (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg), the reigning AMCC Player of the Week, posted 15 kills and a career-high 36 digs. Kelsey Bristol (Troy, PA/Troy) had 14 kills to go along with 22 digs.
Velanna Skripek (Moshannon, PA/Bald Eagle) finished with a season-high 13 kills and three service aces, and she also had 16 digs. Tara Ryan (Walwick, NJ/Waldwick) recorded two solo blocks and one block assist.
Lauren Moran (Johnstown, PA/Westmont Hilltop) had a match-high 32 set assists, and she added 18 digs, six kills, and two aces. Emily Bryan (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro) posted 22 assists and 19 digs.
Mount Aloysius won a tightly-contested opening set by two points. Tied 23-23 late in the set, the Lady Mounties got back-to-back kills from Ava Myers to claim the first stanza in the match.
Penn State Altoona squandered a big lead in the second set, as a flurry of Lady Lion errors led to a Mount Aloysius run that put the visitors ahead. After three kills by Skripek and another kill from Diller, Penn State Altoona held a 14-8 advantage. But six straight Lady Lion attack errors aided an 8-0 run by the Lady Mounties that put them on top 16-14. Ahead 24-23 late in the set, Mount Aloysius got a kill from Machala Gibbons to grab a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, it was Mount Aloysius that allowed a lead to slip away. Down 18-15, Penn State Altoona went on an 8-0 run to jump ahead 23-18. A kill from Stovall and a Mount Aloysius attack error accounted for the Lady Lions' final two points of the set.
Penn State Altoona carried its momentum into the fourth set, posting a 10-point win to even the match score at 2-2. During the fourth, the Lady Lions did not commit any attack errors while hitting at a .519 clip as a team. Down 7-6, the Lady Lions used an 8-2 run to establish a 14-9 lead. Penn State Altoona closed the set in dominant fashion with a 9-1 run, getting two kills each from Diller and Stovall during that span.
The Lady Lions got out to a commanding 10-2 advantage in the fifth set, reeling off nine straight points to overcome a 2-1 deficit. Two kills apiece by Bristol and Stovall in the final points of the set helped Penn State Altoona complete its comeback.
Lady Lions volleyball ventures back into non-conference play this Thursday, October 5, when it travels to take on Frostburg State University for a 7:00 p.m. match. That match will mark the second meeting of the season between the two teams, as Frostburg won the first match 3-0 in Altoona on September 13.
