Women’s Volleyball Loses Back-and-Forth Match at Berks

Women’s Volleyball Loses Back-and-Forth Match at Berks

READING, Pa. – Penn State Altoona women's volleyball lost a five-set match on Friday night, falling 3-2 to Penn State Berks.

The Lady Lions (3-3) won the match's opening set 25-23, but Berks (5-4) took the next two sets by scores of 25-17 and 26-24. Penn State Altoona stayed alive with a 25-16 victory in the fourth set, but Berks prevailed 15-10 in the fifth set to win the match.

Lauren Diller (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) posted team-highs for Penn State Altoona with 14 kills and 28 digs, and she chipped in two block assists. Jenna Bauer (Ebensburg, PA/Central Cambria) had nine kills, 19 digs, and three block assists, and Velanna Skripek (Moshannon, PA/Bald Eagle) finished with eight kills, nine digs, two block assists, and a match-high four service aces.

Alexis Cannistraci (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) led Penn State Altoona in blocks with five block assists and one solo block, and she also accumulated six kills. Sara Russo (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) added five kills, two block assists, and one solo block, and Lilia Farach (Tegucigalpa, Honduras / International School of Panama) had three kills and a solo block.

Emily Bryan (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro) had a team-high 27 assists while adding 15 digs and two aces. Kayla Moran (Boalsburg, PA/State College) recorded 14 assists and contributed three kills.

Penn State Altoona battled back from a deficit in the first set to win it. Berks opened the set on a 4-0 run and later built a 14-9 lead midway through the set. Down 22-20 later in the set, Penn State Altoona used kills from Bauer and Diller to jump ahead 23-22. Another kill from Diller gave her team a 24-23 lead, and Farach's kill ended the set in favor of the Lady Lions.

Berks pulled away to win the second set handily. Up 7-6, the home team embarked on a 7-0 run to increase its lead to 14-6. Berks ultimately triumphed by eight points in the set, tying the match 1-1.

Berks proceeded to win a tightly-contested third set to claim the lead in the match, but Penn State Altoona bounced back to take the fourth set by a nine-point margin. During that set, the Lady Lions posted a match-best .394 hitting percentage while committing no attack errors.

But Berks pulled out a win in the fifth set to prevail in the match. Tied 8-8, the home team outscored Penn State Altoona 7-2 the rest of the way, including scoring three straight points to end the set.

Next up, Penn State Altoona women's volleyball will travel to face Geneva College on Tuesday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m.