Women’s Volleyball Rallies Past Geneva for Win in Home Opener
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team dropped the opening set of its first home match of the season on Wednesday night in Adler Arena, but the Lions bounced back to defeat visiting non-conference opponent Geneva College 3-1.
Geneva (2-7) won the first set 25-23, but Penn State Altoona (4-5) answered by reeling off victories of 25-18, 25-17, and 25-17 in the next three sets to hand the Golden Tornadoes a loss.
Jadeyn Price (Altoona, PA/Altoona) totaled a match-high 13.5 points on 12 kills, one solo block, and one block assist while also accumulating 12 digs. Lia Simanski (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) had 12 points on 12 kills while tallying 16 digs.
Ella Hadley (Spring Mills, PA/Penns Valley) added nine points on nine kills to go along with 21 digs, and Makenna Port (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) contributed 7.5 points on seven kills and a block assist. Maggie Brewer (NuMine, PA/West Shamokin) and Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) chipped in six points apiece, with Brewer having six kills and Myers posting three kills and three service aces.
Brianna Woodring (Greencastle, PA/Greencastle-Antrim) served up a match-high five aces.
Madelyn Rockwell (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) led all players in the match with 22 assists to go along with nine digs and three aces, and Julia Emel (Woodward, PA/Penns Valley) recorded 18 assists and 13 digs.
Anna Batrus (Altoona, PA/Altoona) racked up a match-high 28 digs while adding six assists.
Penn State Altoona led 10-8 early in the first set, but Geneva scored the next four points to take a two-point lead of its own. Down by five, 22-17, late in the set, the Lions went on a 6-1 run that included two Simanski kills and one Brewer kill to even the score at 23-23. But the Golden Tornadoes escaped the set with a win, picking up the next two points to seal a 25-23 victory.
Trailing 2-1 three points into the second set, the Lions went on a big run to break the game open. Penn State Altoona outscored Geneva 15-4 over the next 19 points to establish a 16-6 advantage, including getting three kills in a row from Price and back-to-back aces from Woodring. Later, the Lions got two more Price kills and a kill from Hadley before another Woodring ace finished things off at 25-18, in favor of the home team.
Penn State Altoona worked its way out to another sizable lead in the third set, creating a 10-point advantage, 21-11. Geneva got back to within seven, but kills from Port, Price, and Hadley helped the Lions clinch a 25-17 victory to jump ahead in the match.
Holding an 11-10 lead in the fourth set, Penn State Altoona scored the next six points, including getting two Woodring aces and two Simanski kills, to make it 17-10. Kills from Brewer, Port, Price, and Hadley, as well as a Myers ace, boosted the Lions' lead to 10 points, 23-13. Another Port kill got her team to set point, 24-14, and the set ended at 25-17 on a Geneva service error that wrapped up a 3-1 victory for Penn State Altoona in the match.
Penn State Altoona continues its early-season homestand this Saturday, September 14, hosting non-conference opponents Chatham University and Elizabethtown College for a tri-match in Adler Arena.
The Lions will face Chatham first at 11 a.m., before the Cougars take on Elizabethtown in the middle match at 1 p.m. Penn State Altoona retakes the court at 3 p.m. to wrap up its day against the Blue Jays.
