MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny College volleyball team moved its winning streak to four matches with victories over Lycoming College and Thiel College this afternoon from the David V. Wise Center.
Allegheny (9-4, 0-0 NCAC) is now 4-1 at home in the non-conference campaign, having gone unbeaten in Meadville since a season opening four-set loss to Fredonia. The Gators got revenge on Lycoming (7-4, 0-0 MAC Commonwealth) to open the day, trading their four-set defeat last weekend to the Warriors for a win in four sets (25-18, 25-20, 7-25, 25-21). Allegheny then closed the afternoon with a dominant three-set sweep (25-14, 25-15, 25-13) of Thiel (0-12, 0-1 PAC).
Senior outside hitter
Taylor Samuel paced the Gators with 29 kills over the two matches. The Garden State native hit at a .310 clip on the afternoon and chipped in defensively with 17 digs. 13 of those digs came against Lycoming, giving Samuel her eighth double-double of the season.
Sophomore setter
Justine Kelly dished out 65 assists on the day and served up five aces in the victory over the Warriors. Classmates
Terra Schall and
Kylee Karczewski each registered double-digit digs in the two wins, collecting a total of 38 and 22, respectively.
Senior middle hitter
Sarah Swartz was a force at the net, picking up seven blocks (three solo, four assists) on the afternoon. Her classmate
Julia Weeks added five block assists – four coming against the Tomcats.
Allegheny hit over .200 in the opening and closing sets against Lycoming, headlined by Samuel's seven-kill effort in the fourth stanza. The senior led the Gators with 17 kills in the match, while sophomore middle hitter
Leah Franzluebbers added five on an efficient .313 hitting percentage.
The hosts had five players (
Emily Adams,
Morgan Bush, Kelly, Samuel, Swartz) hit over .300 with multiple kills in their win over Thiel. Allegheny held the Tomcats to a negative .008 hitting percentage over the course of the match thanks in part to eight total team blocks.
Allegheny continues a stretch of six consecutive home matches on Wednesday, Sept. 23 against Pitt-Bradford. Opening serve between the Gators and Panthers is set for 6:00 p.m. from the Wise Center.
