LATROBE, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team started its 2023 schedule on Friday evening, competing in day one of the Bearcat Challenge, hosted by Saint Vincent College in the Robert S. Carey Center.

Penn State Altoona (0-2) took a pair of tough losses, as the Lions were defeated by Gallaudet University and St. Vincent in a pair of five-set matches.

Match One: Gallaudet 3, Penn State Altoona 2

Penn State Altoona came out on the losing end of a back-and-forth battle with Gallaudet (1-0) to start its weekend in the Bearcat Challenge. Gallaudet won the opening set by a commanding score of 25-12, but Penn State Altoona bounced back to win the second, 25-19. The Bison reclaimed the match lead with a 25-18 victory in the third set, but the Lions responded with a 25-23 win in the fourth to even the match at two sets apiece. However, Gallaudet pulled out a 15-12 triumph in the fifth set to win the match.

Lia Simanski (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) totaled a team-high 13 points on 13 kills for Penn State Altoona while adding 11 digs. Lacee Barnhart (Bellefonte, PA/Bald Eagle) had 11 points on nine kills and two service aces, and she also tallied a match-high 23 digs.

Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) and Makenna Port (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) produced 10 points apiece. Myers had four kills, a match-leading four aces, and two solo blocks, while Port finished with nine kills and a solo block.

Abigail Brinker (Lock Haven, PA/PHAA) and Gabriella Serra (Queens, NY/Benjamin Cardozo) split the setting duties, with Brinker putting up 13 assists to go along with 13 digs and Serra compiling 12 assists while chipping in seven digs.

Anna Batrus (Altoona, PA/Altoona) recorded 17 digs.

In the first set, Gallaudet opened by scoring the first eight consecutive points, en route to running up a double-digit advantage midway through the game. The Bison led by as many as 15 points and won the match's opening stanza by 13.

Penn State Altoona started the second set by building a 6-3 lead, including getting kills from Barnhart, Myers, and Simanski. Gallaudet came back to grab a slim lead, and the two teams eventually found themselves deadlocked at 18-18. But the Lions finished the set by outscoring Gallaudet 7-1, including getting the final three points on Bison miscues to even the match score at 1-1.

Gallaudet flipped the script in the third set, pulling away late after the score was tied 18-18. The Bison ended the set on a 7-1 run of their own to retake the lead in the match, 2-1.

In the fourth set, Penn State Altoona worked its way out to a 20-13 lead, only to have Gallaudet charge back and jump ahead with a 9-0 run. The Lions regrouped, however, scoring five of the next six points to win the set. Penn State Altoona's late run included kills from Karlie Feathers (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis), Barnhart, Port, and Simanski, as well as a Myers service ace.

Penn State Altoona constructed a modest lead in the fifth set, as a Barnhart kill gave the Lions a 10-8 advantage. But a 6-1 run by Gallaudet got the Bison to set point, and after a Myers kill, Gallaudet finished things off with a kill to win the match 3-2.

Match Two: St. Vincent 3, Penn State Altoona 2

Penn State Altoona suffered another five-set loss in its second match of the day, as St. Vincent (1-0) overcame a 2-1 Lions lead to win. The Bearcats rallied for a 26-24 win in the first set, before Penn State Altoona bounced back to take the next two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-21. St. Vincent stayed alive with a 25-18 fourth-set win, and the home team prevailed with a 15-3 victory in the fifth.

Barnhart scored a team-best 15.5 points on 14 kills, one solo block, and one block assist, and she also had eight digs. Port registered 11.5 points on nine kills, two solo blocks, and a block assist.

Simanski totaled 8.5 points on seven kills, an ace, and a block assists, and she recorded 13 digs. Myers had 7.5 points on five kills, two aces, and a block assist while adding 10 digs.

Brinker had a team-high 19 assists while tallying 16 digs, and Serra had 11 assists and 10 digs.

Batrus led the Lions in digs with 26.

Penn State Altoona was on the cusp of victory in the opening set before St. Vincent battled back to win it with a late rally. The Lions led by as many as seven points, 23-16, and got to set point, 24-20. But the Bearcats reeled off a 6-0 run to come back and take the first set 26-24.

In the second set, Penn State Altoona pulled away in the middle stages and finished with a six-point win. Up 12-11, the Lions went on to boost their lead to as high as nine points. Late kills by Port and Barnhart helped get Penn State Altoona to set point, 24-17, and a St. Vincent attack error finished things off for the Lions, who evened the match score with a 25-18 victory.

Penn State Altoona ran up a strong lead in the third set, then held on to win it. A kill from Simanski helped the Lions to a seven-point advantage, 11-4, and three straight errors by St. Vincent made it an eight-point difference, 16-8. A Feathers kill put the Lions' lead at 20-13, and a Simanski ace got it back to eight, 22-14. The Bearcats embarked on a 7-1 run to narrow the gap to two points, 23-21, but back-to-back attack errors by the home team helped Penn State Altoona to a 25-21 victory, and the Lions nabbed a 2-1 lead in the match.

St. Vincent answered in the fourth set with a 25-18 win to even the match score at 2-2, taking advantage of a slow start by Penn State Altoona. The Bearcats worked their way out to a nine-point lead, 16-7, before the Lions came back to close the gap to two, 18-16. But St. Vincent outscored Penn State Altoona 7-2 the rest of the way, earning a seven-point victory to force a fifth set.

In the fifth, St. Vincent limited Penn State Altoona to just three points, as the Bearcats sailed to a 15-3 win to claim victory in the match.

Penn State Altoona women's volleyball returns to action tomorrow, Saturday, September 2, for the second and final day of the Bearcat Challenge. The Lions start the day's action at 11 a.m. against Westminster College before finishing their weekend versus Franciscan University at 1 p.m.