Women’s Volleyball Tops Lycoming, 3-1
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team ended its early-season homestand on Tuesday night, handing visiting non-conference opponent Lycoming College a 3-1 defeat in Adler Arena.
Penn State Altoona (6-6) took the opening set 25-20, before Lycoming (3-6) fought back for a 25-20 win of its own in the second set. But the Lions responded with 25-14 and 25-18 victories in the next two sets to defeat the Warriors in four.
Makenna Port (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) tied for the match lead in points, totaling 13.5 on 11 kills, two solo blocks, and a block assist. Lia Simanski (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) scored 12.5 points on 10 kills, two service aces, and a block assist while adding 15 digs.
Ella Hadley (Spring Mills, PA/Penns Valley) recorded 9.5 points on nine kills and one solo block, and she also posted 13 digs. Maggie Brewer (NuMine, PA/West Shamokin) had eight points on eight kills, and Jadeyn Price (Altoona, PA/Altoona) earned seven points on seven kills. Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) led all players in the match with four aces.
Julia Emel (Woodward, PA/Penns Valley) put up a match-best 24 assists to go along with 10 digs, and Madelyn Rockwell (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) contributed 18 assists while chipping in seven digs and three aces.
Anna Batrus (Altoona, PA/Altoona) tied for the match high in digs, recording 27.
Penn State Altoona scored seven of the first eight points to start the match, including getting kills by Price and Hadley and a Rockwell ace. Later, the Lions reeled off five straight points to increase their lead to 17-9, getting two Brewer kills, one Hadley kill, and a Port solo block in that span. Another kill by Brewer ended the set at 25-20 for Penn State Altoona.
Lycoming answered in the second set, during which the Warriors took advantage of 12 Penn State Altoona attack errors. The visitors worked their way out to a 9-3 lead, then expanded it to 19-11. Three kills from Port helped the Lions whittle their deficit down to two, 22-20, but Lycoming used an attack error, ace, and kill to nab a 25-20 victory in the second set, evening the match score at 1-1.
Penn State Altoona jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third set, as early kills from Port and Simanski, as well as aces from Myers on consecutive serves, powered the Lions to the five-point advantage. Lycoming came back to tie the set at 11-11, and the Warriors stayed within two, 14-12, shortly thereafter. But Penn State Altoona outscored Lycoming 11-2 the rest of the way, with a Rockwell ace providing the set-winning point to end it at 25-14.
Lycoming grabbed an early lead in the fourth set, getting out to a 7-4 advantage. Penn State Altoona came back and took a two-point lead, 17-15, helped by kills from Simanski and Hadley and an ace from Batrus. Brewer's kill and Rockwell's ace kept the difference at two, 19-17. After a Lycoming point, Penn State Altoona ended the set on a 6-0 run that consisted of two kills and a block from Port, a kill and ace from Simanski, and a Warrior attack error, capping the set at 25-18 to propel the Lions to a four-set match win.
Penn State Altoona women's volleyball returns to the road for its next match, as the Lions will travel north to Williamsport to face non-conference opponent Penn College this Thursday, September 19, at 7 p.m.
