The #3 Penn State Behrend women's volleyball team advances to the AMCC semifinals with a 3-0 win over #6 Mt. Aloysius College, while the #4 La Roche College women's volleyball team advanced to their fourth straight AMCC Tournament Semifinal after sweeping #5 D'Youville College 3-0 on Wednesday night.
The third-seeded Lions (6-3), who defeated the No. 6 Mounties (5-4) in three sets on Saturday, posted their second straight win this time with scores 25-17, 25-12 and 25-17. Behrend will face No. 2 Pitt-Bradford in the second semifinal at Penn State Altoona on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Junior OH Amanda Henry tallied eight kills and 11 digs, while senior OH Rachel Frye knocked down a team-best nine kills. Henry led Behrend in the first set with five kills, registering four in the final six points by the Lions. The Behrend defense held Mt. Aloysius to just seven kills in the second set and allowed 12 points overall for a 2-0 lead in the match. Sophomore MH Alex Parra tallied three kills, while freshmen OH Madison Clapper and Keely Hering added three digs each. The Mounties were able to take a quick 7-4 lead in the third with a pair of aces and kills. After a Behrend timeout, the Lions went on a 10-2 run thanks to three aces from Hannah Saunders for a 15-9 advantage. Behrend held its largest lead of the match at 24-15 after Parra tallied consecutive kills. The Lions won on an attack error by Mt. Aloysius at 25-17.
Behrend returns to action on Saturday at No. 1 Penn State Altoona for the AMCC semifinals.
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La Roche (6-3) advances to the AMCC semifinals after sweeping D'Youville (5-4) with the scores of 25-17, 25-10, 25-22.
The Redhawks dominated early running out to a 6-1 lead. Three of La Roche's points came off junior OH Laura Nath kills and senior OH Toni Torchia added a serving ace. The Spartans responded with six of the next nine points to cut the deficit to just three. Torchia and Nath got the Redhawks back on track with back-to-back kills and La Roche went on to win. Nath had five kills and seven kills while junior S Sarah Storino had nine digs.
La Roche got off to a slow start in the second set but they found their footing and forced a timeout at 13-7. The Redhawks proceeded by running away with the second set. They scored 12 of the final 15 points including two straight Storino serving aces. Freshman RS Reilee Bradford carried the Redhawks early in the third set. Sophomore S Maddie Gestrich found Bradford on the right side as La Roche built a 12-6 lead. The Spartans answered with five straight points and cut the deficit to 24-22. Torchia responded with a kill to send the Redhawks to their fourth straight AMCC Tournament Semifinal. Nath finished with a team-high 10 kills and 21 digs while Torchia had nine kills and 16 digs. Sophomore L Hannah Scott contributed 17 digs and Janet Aland 2.5 blocks. Storino and Gestrich were excellet on sets combining for 31 assists.
The Redhawks move onto the tournament semifinal and will take on Penn State Altoona on Saturday at 2pm. Penn State Altoona is the #1 seed and the tournament host.