ALFRED, N.Y. – The No. 2 seed Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team made its 2024 postseason debut on Saturday, when the Lions topped No. 3 seed Penn State Behrend 3-1 in the semifinal round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament at Alfred State College's Orvis Gymnasium.

With its win, Penn State Altoona (17-11) will play in the AMCC Championship match tomorrow, Sunday, November 17, at 1 p.m. against top seed and tournament host Alfred State. Behrend (13-18) is eliminated with its loss.

Behrend started Saturday's match with a 25-16 win in the opening set, but Penn State Altoona awoke to take the next three sets by scores of 25-18, 25-17, and 25-23.

Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) led Penn State Altoona in points with 13 on 11 kills and two service aces. Ella Hadley (Spring Mills, PA/Penns Valley) had 11 points on 10 kills and an ace, and Lia Simanski (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) totaled 10 points on 10 kills.

Makenna Port (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) added seven points on seven kills, and Maggie Brewer (NuMine, PA/West Shamokin) chipped in 6.5 points on six kills and a block assist.

Julia Emel (Woodward, PA/Penns Valley) led the Lions in assists with 21, and Madelyn Rockwell (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) contributed 15 assists.

Anna Batrus (Altoona, PA/Altoona) finished with a match-high 17 digs.

Penn State Altoona kept things close in the first set, until Behrend began to pull away midway through. Two early kills by Myers, along with a Port kill and Hadley ace, had the score tied 9-9. Behrend scored the next five points after that, but the Lions used two Port kills and a Myers kill to help close the gap to two points, 16-14. But Behrend went on another run, putting six straight points on the board to increase their lead to 22-14. Simanski and Hadley posted late kills for Penn State Altoona, but the Lions ultimately suffered a 25-16 loss to open the match.

The Lions bounced back in the second set, expanding a lead in the latter stages to win it by seven. Four Behrend errors and a Simanski kill helped Penn State Altoona open up a 5-3 lead, and three straight Behrend attack errors later in the set gave the Lions a 10-8 advantage. Back-to-back kills from Jadeyn Price (Altoona, PA/Altoona) and Myers put Penn State Altoona's lead at 18-14, and Hadley scored three kills in a row to make it 21-15. A kill from Brewer and a Behrend service error got Penn State Altoona to set point, 24-17, and Myers' kill clinched a 25-18 victory for the Lions.

Penn State Altoona grabbed another set win in the third to go up 2-1 in the match. Trailing 8-5, the Lions embarked on an 8-0 run that included kills from Myers, Hadley, and Simanski and a service ace from Batrus. Another Myers kill gave Penn State Altoona a 16-10 advantage, and kills from Brewer and Simanski made it 20-12. More kills from Port, Myers, and Hadley helped the Lions close out the set, prevailing 25-17. 

Penn State Altoona ran up a big lead in the fourth set, then held on for the win. Early kills by Port, Brewer, and Simanski, along with a pair of service aces from Myers, helped the Lions get out to a 9-2 advantage. Several points later, a 6-0 run from Penn State Altoona that included kills by Hadley, Brewer, and Myers made it 17-7. Myers and Simanski each scored a kill to keep their team's lead at 10 points, 19-9. Behrend chipped away at its deficit and came back to within one, 24-23, but a Brewer kill iced a 25-23 win for Penn State Altoona in the fourth set.