by Casey Burinskas

ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team returned home to the Adler Arena on Wednesday night, where the Lions took a 3-2 win over Saint Vincent College.

St. Vincent (4-9) won the first set 25-23, before Penn State Altoona (8-8) answered by grabbing victories of 25-17 and 25-21 in the next two sets. The visiting Bearcats stayed alive with a 25-20 win in the fourth, but the Lions prevailed 15-12 in the fifth to win the match.

Lia Simanski (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) had a match-high 17 points on 15 kills and two service aces while adding 16 digs. Ella Hadley (Spring Mills, PA/Penns Valley) had 15.5 points on 15 kills and a block assist to go along with 13 digs.

Makenna Port (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) contributed eight points on eight kills, and Jadeyn Price (Altoona, PA/Altoona) recorded 7.5 points on seven kills and a block assist. Maggie Brewer (NuMine, PA/West Shamokin) and Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) added six points apiece, with Brewer having five kills and a solo block and Myers totaling three kills, two aces, and two block assists.

Julia Emel (Woodward, PA/Penns Valley) had a team-high 24 assists and notched 14 digs, and Madelyn Rockwell (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) totaled 22 assists and 14 digs while tying for the match lead in aces with three.

Anna Batrus (Altoona, PA/Altoona) led all players in the match with 26 digs.

Starting the first set, St. Vincent was first to score, but the Lions rebounded, as Simanski landed two kills to help tie the set at 3-3. Several Altoona errors helped St. Vincent begin to pull away in the middle of the set, when the Bearcats took a 15-10 lead. A service ace from Myers and kills from Simanski and Port brought Altoona back to within two, 18-16. Later, kills from Hadley and Brewer and two errors from St. Vincent got the Lions to within one, 23-22. But St. Vincent made it to set point, 24-23, and got a kill to win the first set, 25-23.

In the second, St. Vincent came back to striking early and pulling into the lead, 8-6. Four kills from Hadley helped Altoona tie the score at 10-10, and the Lions went on to outscore the Bearcats 15-7 the rest of the way. Late kills by Port and Price got Altoona to set point, and a Hadley kill got the Lions on the board with a 25-17 win in the second set.

In the third set, St. Vincent racked up early points to jump ahead, taking leads of 7-2 and 10-5 while looking to leave the Lions in the dust. But Altoona quickly bounced right back to give themselves a second chance. Kills from Simanski, Hadley, and Price, along with several St. Vincent attack errors, brought the Lions right back into the set, tying the score at 10-10. The teams exchanged points after that and found themselves tied late, 21-21. But Altoona was able to come back and land four straight points, as a kill from Myers and three Bearcat attack errors gave the Lions their second set win of the night, 25-21.

Starting the fourth set, kills from Brewer and Hadley helped Altoona pull ahead, 2-1. But St. Vincent got into gear and worked its way to a 15-9 lead that turned into a 21-12 advantage for the Bearcats. Kills from Port and Price, plus a solo block from Brewer, helped Altoona close the gap to four, 24-20. But St. Vincent scored the next point to win the set 25-20, pulling the two teams into a tiebreaker.

In the fifth set, a kill from Simanski helped the Lions start with an early lead, 3-2, and two service aces came in from Rockwell to help Altoona pull ahead by a score of 7-4. The Lions used another ace, this time from Simanski, to increase their lead to 10-5. With the win in sight, kills from Port, Hadley, and Price put three more points on the board, and Altoona ended the fifth with a final kill from Simanski that made it 15-12, landing the Lions a five-set victory over St. Vincent.

Next up, Penn State Altoona remains at home to face Wilkes University this Saturday, September 28, at 1 p.m.