by Casey Burinskas

AURORA, N.Y. – The Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team was back on the road Saturday, facing Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Wells College and non-conference foe Alfred University in a tri-match at Wells' Farenthold Athletic Wing.

Penn State Altoona (14-10, 8-1 AMCC) clinched the top seed and hosting duties for the upcoming AMCC Tournament by defeating Wells 3-0 in the first match. The Lions finished the day by pulling out a 3-2 win over Alfred in the second match.

Penn State Altoona will now host the conference semifinal and championship matches next weekend in Adler Arena. The No. 1 seed Lions will face the winner of this Wednesday night's match between No. 5 La Roche University and No. 4 Wells on Saturday, November 11 at 2 p.m. Later that day, at 4:30 p.m., No. 2 seed Penn State Behrend will take on the winner of Wednesday's No. 6 Mount Aloysius College and No. 3 Alfred State College match.

The AMCC championship will be Sunday, November 12 at 1 p.m. between the semifinal winners.

Match One: Penn State Altoona 3, Wells 0

The Lions were able to pull out a strong win over Wells (12-15, 5-4 AMCC) in three sets by scores of 25-21, 25-22, and 26-24. The victory gave Penn State Altoona its first AMCC regular season title since 2017.

Penn State Altoona's Lacee Barnhart (Bellefonte PA/Bald Eagle) was able to record 12 kills over the course of the match, with Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) coming close behind with a total of eight kills.

Julia Emel (Woodward, PA/Penns Valley) had a team-high 19 assists for Penn State Altoona.

Lia Simanski (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) led the team in digs with 16, and Abigail Brinker (Lock Haven, PA/PHAA) and Anna Batrus (Altoona PA/Altoona) ended with totals of 13 digs also to help the Lions land their 3-0 victory over Wells.

Karlie Feathers (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) and Makenna Port (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) each finished with three total blocks. Port had two solo blocks and one block assist, and Feathers tallied three block assists.

In the first set, the Lions started off strong by pulling ahead 5-2, but Wells stayed close behind and claimed a 7-5 lead. The Lions led most of the set, helped by kills from Simanski, Port, and Morgan Fussell (Blairsville, GA/Union County). Late in the set, Penn State Altoona was leading by five when Wells came back to tie the game, 21-21. But after a kill from Myers put the Lions back into the lead, the set ended with a service ace from Emel to give her team a win of 25-21.

Starting off the second set, the Lions came on strong with a three-point run, including two service aces from Emel. Wells started to pull ahead, leaving the Lions behind – but not for long. With the set score at 13-12 in favor of Wells, Barnhart put up a kill to tie the game at 13-13. The set continued with back-and-forth points from team to team, until Wells started to pull away again. But the Lions were again quick to catch up, with a block from Port tying the score at 22-22. Jadeyn Price (Altoona PA/Altoona) helped the Lions pull ahead with a kill, and the winning point was a kill from Barnhart, giving the Lions their second straight set win, 25-22.

The third set was close between Penn State Altoona and Wells. Right off the bat, a kill from Feathers gave the Lions a jumpstart, and Penn State Altoona worked its way out to a lead of 4-1. Wells came back and started a run to not only tie the game but take the lead for a short period of time. The Wells lead sat at 11-6 when Barnhart was able to pull out three straight kills, helping the Lions eventually come back to only a point behind. The set was battled back and forth when Batrus landed two service aces, allowing her team to tie the score 19-19. The score was soon tied again, 20-20, after a kill from Myers. The Lions pulled ahead once again, 23-21, with two more kills from Barnhart. Near the end of the set, Wells was able to come back and tie the game at 24-24, but Port was able to put up a kill and Feathers landed a service ace to give the Lions their third set win, 26-24.

Match Two: Penn State Altoona 3, Alfred 2

Penn State Altoona set out for its second win of the day against non-conference opponent Alfred, and the Lions were able to pull out a win in five sets. The Lions won the first, third, and fifth sets by scores of 25-17, 25-18, and 15-10, with Alfred taking the second and fourth sets 25-20 and 27-25.

Simanski was able to put 17 total kills on the court for the Lions. Myers added 14 kills in the victory, and Barnhart finished with 12. 

Batrus had a career-high 32 digs for Penn State Altoona.

Emel totaled 32 assists, and Gabriella Serra (Queens, NY/Benjamin Cardozo) had 15 assists. 

The Lions were able to start the first set with a 4-1 lead, helped by two service aces from Myers and a kill from Simanski. The Lions pulled away, building a 16-8 lead after another ace from Myers. The score reached 20-15, and the final point for the first-set win was an ace by Barnhart.

The second set started off just as strongly as the first for Penn State Altoona, which came out with kills from Myers, Simanski, and Emel, giving the Lions a lead of 7-3. However, Alfred was able to tie the score and take the lead. A kill from Price kept the Lions within one, 18-17. But late kills from Barnhart and Myers could not help Penn State Altoona reach the Alfred lead, and the Saxons won the second set 25-20.

Set three started off strong once again for Penn State Altoona, as the Lions were able to take an early 6-4 lead. After Alfred tied the score, the Lions pulled back ahead with a kill from Myers, making it 10-9. With the score 11-11, the Lions outscored Alfred 8-2 over the next 10 points to go up 19-13. Kills by Simanski and Myers helped Penn State Altoona stay in front, and the Lions secured a win of 25-18 in the third set.

Set four saw the Lions pull ahead early, and they were able to hold the lead for most of the set. Kills from Port, Myers, Simanski helped the Lions hold on to their lead midway through the set, but Alfred came back to tie the score at 16-16. Penn State Altoona fell behind, 23-20, but was able to tie the game at 24-24, helped by a Myers kill and two from Barnhart. But the Lions ultimately fell to Alfred at the end of the fourth set by a score of 27-25.

For the final set, Penn State Altoona rapidly picked up points. The Lions started out with a kill from Emel, then fought their way ahead with kills from Simanski, Price, Port, and Barnhart. The Lions' lead was soon set at 12-7, following a kill from Myers that helped the Lions closer to victory. The final point was a kill from Simanski that pushed the Lions to a 15-10 win, giving them a victory over Alfred in the match.