Penn State Altoona Rallies to Defeat Women's Volleyball in AMCC Semifinals; Jones Breaks Single-Season Record

ALFRED, NY– The No. 2 Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team won three unanswered sets to defeat Penn State Behrend 3-1 in the 2024 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championships on Saturday afternoon.

Score: Penn State Altoona 3, Penn State Behrend 1
Records: Penn State Behrend (13-18), Penn State Altoona (18-11)

Noteworthy:

* Cadence Jones (North East, PA/North East) was named to the AMCC All-Tournament Team
* Jones also broke the single-season record for kills, surpassing Elaine Voltz who held the record at 466
* Jones finished her freshman campaign with 470 kills  

Key Moments:

* The reigning AMCC Champions advanced to the finals  and will face No. 1 Alfred State
* After falling behind 25-16 in the first set, Altoona reeled off three straight wins 25-17, 25-18, 25-23 to keep their season alive
* Jones registered 22 kills and 13 digs for her 14^th double-double
* Brynne Smith (Butler, PA/Knoch) also posted a double-double with 37 assists and 12 digs
* Behrend led by as much as seven down the stretch in the first set at 21-14
* Alani Salas-Garcia (Jacksonville, FL/Mandarin) tallied two kills and Hannah Smith (Harborcreek, PA/Harbor Creek) registered the final kill of the set to give the Behrend Lions a 1-0 lead
* Altoona went to even the match with a 25-17 set-two victory
* In the third, Behrend grabbed a quick 8-5 lead but Altoona used an 8-0 run combined with a kill from Taylor Myers to reverse the lead at 16-10
* Altoona did not look back for a 2-0 edge with a 25-18 win off a kill from Myers
*  In the fourth, the Altoona Lions registered a match-high 16 kills yet committing eight errors
* Altoona started with an 8-1 lead and grabbed a double-digit lead at 19-9
* Salas-Garcia had a team-best 14 digs while Tayler Elchynski (Corry, PA/Corry) added 13 digs