Women’s Volleyball Tops Pitt-Bradford 3-1
ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State Altoona women's volleyball used an efficient and balanced team effort to defeat Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Pitt-Bradford 3-1 in the Adler Auxiliary Gym on Saturday afternoon.
The Lions (10-4, 3-2 AMCC) set the tone for the match with an impressive 25-11 triumph in the first set. Pitt-Bradford (15-5, 3-2 AMCC) countered with a 25-17 win in the second set, but the Lions responded with 25-17 and 25-20 wins in the next two sets to earn a convincing victory.
Penn State Altoona compiled a solid .262 attack percentage as a team, the Lions' second-best mark of the season to date. The team recorded 49 kills while committing just 15 attack errors, tied for their third-fewest in a match this year.
Lydia Mock (Alum Bank, PA/Chestnut Ridge) earned a team-high 14 kills while adding 10 digs, and Makenna Bauer (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) totaled 11 kills and one block assist. Lacee Barnhart (Bellefonte, PA/Bald Eagle) and Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) each finished with nine kills, one service ace, and block assist, and Barnhart also contributed 14 digs.
Alexis Cannistraci (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) added four kills and two block assists, and Grace Shelley (York, PA/York Catholic) chipped in one kill.
Kayla Moran (Boalsburg, PA/State College) finished with a match-high 44 assists and five service aces, and she also recorded eight digs, one block assist, and one kill.
Erin Lutz (State College, PA/State College) led the Lions in digs with 19.
The Lions had a dominant performance in the first set, during which they hit at a .417 clip as a team. Three straight kills from Bauer, Shelley, and Mock preceded a Pitt-Bradford timeout, after Penn State Altoona had constructed an 8-2 lead. Later, the Lions reeled off six straight points, including two Barnhart kills and two Moran aces, to increase their advantage to 20-7. Penn State Altoona scored its final two points of the set on kills by Barnhart and Bauer.
Pitt-Bradford tied the match at 1-1 with a bounce back in the second set. The Panthers worked their way on top in the middle stages of the match and stayed ahead the rest of the way to prevail in the set. After Myers' kill cut the visitors' lead to three points, 19-16, Pitt-Bradford got three straight kills to boost its lead to 22-16. A kill by Moran halted the Panthers' run momentarily, but they scored three straight points to end the set on a kill, block, and attack error.
Penn State Altoona regrouped in the third set to get past Pitt-Bradford by a comfortable margin. The Lions used three kills in a row – two from Mock and one from Bauer – midway through the set to establish a 16-12 lead. Penn State Altoona continued to widen its lead, as back-to-back kills from Myers made it 23-15. Kills from Myers and Barnhart accounted for the Lions' final two points of the set, and the home team regained the lead in the match.
The Lions posted 15 kills as a team during the fourth set, during which they pulled away from Pitt-Bradford late to clinch the match. With the score tied 19-19, kills from Cannistraci and Barnhart and an ace from Moran put Penn State Altoona up 22-19. Following a Pitt-Bradford timeout, Bauer's kill made it 23-19. A kill by the Panthers made it a three-point score, but an attack error and a block by Cannistraci and Bauer closed out the set and sealed the match win for Penn State Altoona.
Women's volleyball continues its homestand this upcoming Wednesday, October 20, when the Lions will host AMCC opponent Pitt-Greensburg for a 7:00 p.m. match in the Adler Arena.
