by Casey Burinskas

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – On Thursday night, the Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team was on the road to face off against Penn College, and they blanked the Wildcats 3-0 to come home with a victory.

Penn State Altoona (7-6) pulled over the .500 mark for the first time this season by defeating Penn College (2-9) in three sets by scores of 25-14, 25-21, and 25-14.

Hannah Thompson (Reynoldsville, PA/Homeschool) held the highest total of kills for the night along with Ella Hadley (Spring Mills, PA/Penns Valley), as they both finished with a team high of seven kills while adding five digs each. Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) fell close behind with four kills and had one ace, and Lia Simanski (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) had six kills and five digs.

Madelyn Rockwell (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) led the team with 10 assists and also had two aces. Julia Emel (Woodward, PA/Penns Valley) had eight assists and six digs, and Gabriella Serra (Queens, NY/Benjamin Cardozo) recorded seven assists, four digs, and an ace.

Abigail Brinker (Lock Haven, PA/PHAA) led the Lions with seven digs, while Anna Batrus (Altoona, PA/Altoona) had six digs and three service aces.

Altoona was first to place points on the board in the first set. Falling quickly into a rhythm, a kill from Simanski, followed by kills from Makenna Port (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) and an ace from Rockwell, started the lead at 6-2. A kill from Myers kept the Lions pulling ahead, and with three service aces from Batrus, the Lions were quickly halfway to victory in the first set at 13-7. Two attack errors at the end of the set, along with a service ace from Rockwell, landed the Lions their first win of the match with a score of 25-14.

Coming right into the second set, Altoona was once again first to land on the board with an attack error and a kill from Emel. Penn College went ahead, 5-4, but Altoona responded with a Brianna Woodring (Greencastle, PA/Greencastle-Antrim) ace, two Jadeyn Price (Altoona, PA/Altoona) kills, and several Wildcat attack errors to help go up 13-8. Kills from Simanski and Thompson placed the Lions on the path to victory, and two late kills from Simanski ended the second set with a final score of 25-21.

Continuing to the final set of the night, Altoona kept the trend and landed early points on the board with a service ace from Myers. Kills flowed in from Thompson and Hadley, and a run of six points later in the set put the Altoona lead at 16-8. Kills from Thompson and Rockwell helped the Lions stay ahead, and a service ace from Serra and a kill from Hadley gave the final set to Altoona, 25-14, to shut out Penn College.

Next on the radar, Altoona women's volleyball will take on Bethany College and Washington & Jefferson College in a tri-match at W&J this Saturday, September 21. The Lions will face Bethany at 1 p.m. and the host Presidents at 3 p.m.