Championship Bound - Pioneers Sweep Altoona

The Alfred State volleyball team won a back and forth battle 25-20, 27-25, 25-19 over Penn State Altoona in the AMCC Semifinals on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers improve to 18-2 on the year.

In the opening set, ASC jumped out to an early lead and never let the Lions back into the set. The second set swung back and forth. Alfred State trailed 24-22 but tied it up with a pair of points. Trailing 25-24, Kiara Perkins (Coudersport, PA) sandwiched a pair of kills in between a kill by Alyssa Martin (Portville) to take the two set lead. In set three, the blue & gold trailed 13-9 but won six straight points to take a 15-13 lead. Altoona scored the next two points but a kill by Keturah Gregory (Laurel, MD) followed by a kill by Martin gave Alfred State a lead they would never give back up.

The Pioneers got a solid team effort. Five players finished with seven or more kills and three had more than 10 digs. 

Karleigh Haines (Jamestown) led the team with nine kills and 13 digs while Perkins finished with nine kills and 12 digs. Gregory chipped in with eight kills while Martin and Faith McCombs (Copiague) each had seven kills. The Pioneers hit .278 for the game including hitting .350 in the third set.

Nayomie Ferrer (Eastridge) passed out 35 assists and accumulated nine digs and five kills. Emma Petrichick (Genesee Valley) led the team with 20 digs and Becca Brown (Collegeville, PA) recorded four of the team's nine service aces.

Lydia Mock led Altoona (16-5) with 12 kills while Makenna Bauer added 10. Erin Lutz was credited with 26 digs.

Alfred State will take on #1 seed Penn State Behrend in the AMCC Finals tomorrow at 1 p.m. Penn State Behrend swept Pitt-Bradford in the other AMCC semi. The match will be played in Erie with the winner earning the automatic bid to the NCAA DIII National Tournament.