by Jon Ramsey

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team traveled to Lycoming College Thursday night, where they defeated the Warriors 3-1.

The Lions (5-1) won the first set in thrilling fashion by a score of 29-27, and they proceeded to win the second set 25-19. Lycoming (5-7) went on to rally and win the third set 25-23. Despite a hard-fought match from their opponent, Penn State Altoona won the fourth set 25-21 to win the match.

Lydia Mock (Alum Bank, PA/Chestnut Ridge) tallied a season-high 20 kills to lead the Lions' offense along with 16 digs. Lacee Barnhart (Bellefonte, PA/Bald Eagle) and Makenna Bauer (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) each had 14 kills. Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) added five kills, and Alexis Cannistraci (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) had four kills.

Erin Lutz (State College, PA/State College) eclipsed her season-high digs total in a match with 24. Also leading the Lions on defense were Barnhart and Bauer, who each tallied 14 digs.

Kayla Moran (Boalsburg, PA/State College) continued to dish out the ball for the Lions, accumulating 50 assists while also having nine digs in the match.

Grace Shelley (York, PA/York Catholic) had three block assists, while Mock had two block assists. Cannistraci posted one solo block, and Moran finished with one block assist.

As a team, the Lions finished the match with 88 digs, 62 kills, 57 assists, and a hitting percentage of .135.

Penn State Altoona got off to a hot start, taking a commanding 11-3 lead. Following a few attack errors by the Lions and a few kills from Lycoming, the score was back to 16-12, Lions, before their first timeout of the set. The Lions found their groove again, going on runs with multiple-point swings. The score was 23-14, Lions, before a three-point rally from Lycoming. The Lions got the serve back on an attack error from Lycoming and only needed one point to finish the set. Lycoming refused to go down easy, taking the score all the way to 24-24 with one kill, an ace, and five attack errors by the Lions. The Lions were able to finish the set by a score of 29-27.

The Lions took an early 4-1 lead in the second set after multiple attack errors by Lycoming. Later in the set, the Lions' offense caught fire with two kills from Mock and one each from Barnhart and Cannistraci to bring the score to 15-15. The Lions' offense continued to roll throughout the second set, as they did not trail in the set again, eventually winning by a score of 25-19.

Penn State Altoona started off with an early lead in set three, only to have it erased. Following a string of errors from the Lions, they faced a 10-8 deficit in the middle of the set. The Lions kicked it back into gear, again finding their stride on offense. Following three kills from Myers in four points, the Lions took a 14-11 lead. Their lead was again erased as Lycoming went on a five-point run, making the score 21-20, Lycoming. Penn State Altoona was able to take the lead 23-22. However, they were not able to muster enough to finish the match as they dropped the third set 25-23.

The fourth set started off a bit slow for the Lions, but they found their groove in the middle of the set by taking the lead by a score of 11-5. Following five straight kills from the Lions' offense, their lead grew to 15-6. After a run from Lycoming, the Lions' lead was cut to 16-12. As the Lions continued to battle, they led the match 22-20 and didn't look back, winning set four 25-21.

This victory marked the fifth in a row for the Lions, and they look to make it six as they travel to New York to face Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Alfred State College this Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.