ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team split a tri-match at Penn State Behrend's Junker Center on Saturday afternoon, including posting a five-set win to remain undefeated in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

The Lions (12-10, 3-0 AMCC) improved to 3-0 in the AMCC after pulling out a 3-2 victory over league opponent Behrend in the day's opening match. Penn State Altoona went to five again in the second match, losing 3-2 to non-conference foe The College of Wooster.

Match One: Penn State Altoona 3, Penn State Behrend 2

The Lions recorded their third AMCC win of the season against host Behrend (7-15, 2-1 AMCC) to start the day. Behrend took the opening set 25-22, but Penn State Altoona responded with wins of 25-19 and 25-20 in the next two sets. The home squad stayed alive with a 25-22 win in the fourth, but the Lions recorded a 15-7 victory in the fifth set to prevail in the match.

Lia Simanski (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) had a team-high 17 points for Penn State Altoona on 16 kills and two block assists. Maggie Brewer (NuMine, PA/West Shamokin) and Makenna Port (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) had 9.5 points each, with Brewer contributing eight kills and three block assists and Port having seven kills, three block assists, and one solo block.

Ella Hadley (Spring Mills, PA/Penns Valley) and Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) added eight points apiece. Hadley finished with seven kills and a service ace, and Myers totaled four block assists, three kills, and three aces.

Julia Emel (Woodward, PA/Penns Valley) put up a team-best 22 assists, and Madelyn Rockwell (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) tallied 14 assists while also scoring eight points on a kill and a match-high seven aces.

Anna Batrus (Altoona, PA/Altoona) finished with a match-high 28 digs.

Behrend started the first set on a 6-0 run, but Penn State Altoona slowly worked its way back and got back to within one, 22-21, following a Port solo block. The teams traded kills to keep the difference at one point, 23-22, but Behrend scored the next two points on a service error and a block to take the opening set, 25-22.

Penn State Altoona started the second set on a run of its own, scoring the first five points. Behrend came back to tie the set, 8-8, before the Lions reeled off a 10-2 run to boost their advantage to 18-10. An ace from Rockwell got Penn State Altoona to set point 24-18, and Port's kill finished things off to give the Lions a 25-19 win.

The Lions kept their momentum rolling into the third set, when Penn State Altoona opened with a 10-3 lead. Behrend fought back to trim the Lions' lead to one, 17-16, but kills from Simanski, Port, and Jadeyn Price (Altoona, PA/Altoona) helped Penn State Altoona get its lead back to six points, 24-18. A kill from Myers provided the 25th point of the set for the Lions, who prevailed 25-20.

Behrend answered in the fourth set, when the home team led by as many as six points midway through and nursed its lead the rest of the way. Late kills from Brewer and Simanski helped get Penn State Altoona to within one, and a Behrend attack error kept the difference at one, with the Lions trailing 23-22. But the home team used back-to-back kills to win the set, 25-22, and send the match to the fifth.

The Lions took the fifth set by a comfortable margin, helped by starting out on a 9-3 advantage. Behrend errors proved costly in the set, and a Hadley kill sealed a 15-7 victory for Penn State Altoona, which nabbed the conference win over its Erie rival.

Match Two: Wooster 3, Penn State Altoona 2

The Lions wrapped up their day by facing Wooster (9-12), in what was Penn State Altoona's final non-conference match of the season. The Fighting Scots took the first two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-18, but the Lions battled back with wins of 25-18 and 25-18 in the next two sets. However, Wooster came out on top with a 15-11 victory in the fifth.

Hadley led the Lions in points with 12.5 on nine kills, three aces, and a block assist. Myers had 12 points on eight kills, two solo blocks, two block assists, and an ace, and Simanski totaled 8.5 points on eight kills and a block assist.

Rockwell led the team in assists with 14, and Emel contributed 11.

Batrus duplicated her dig total from the first match, recording another 28 digs to lead all players.

Leading 17-16 in the first set, Wooster scored eight of the next 11 points to win it. Penn State Altoona got kills from Simanski, Price, and Hadley in the late stages of the set, but the Scots grabbed a 25-19 victory to start the match with a lead.

Penn State Altoona built an 11-9 advantage in the second set, before the Scots used a 12-2 run to turn their two-point deficit into an eight-point lead. Despite late kills from Simanski and Port, Wooster won the second set by a 25-18 margin.

The Lions got on the board with a strong victory in the third set. A Myers block midway through helped Penn State Altoona to a 15-7 lead, and Myers' kill set the Lions' advantage at 10 points, 20-10. Wooster made a push to get back to within five, but a Price kill and Gabriella Serra (Queens, NY/Benjamin Cardozo) ace clinched a 25-18 victory for the Lions.

Penn State Altoona established another solid lead in the fourth set, during which the Lions led by as many as nine points. Aces by Batrus and Abigail Brinker (Lock Haven, PA/PHAA), along with kills from Simanski and Price, accounted for some of Penn State Altoona's late points, and the Lions forced a fifth set with a 25-18 victory in the fourth.

In the fifth, a solo block from Myers and kills from Price and Port helped Penn State Altoona to a 7-5 advantage. The Lions went on to get kills from Hadley, Myers, and Simanski, and the score was tied 11-11 later. But Wooster scored the next four points to take a 15-11 win in the fifth set.

Penn State Altoona women's volleyball returns to the road for its next match, when the Lions travel to Pittsburgh to face AMCC opponent Carlow University at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 22.