MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny College volleyball team dropped its North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) opener this evening, falling to DePauw University in four sets at the David V. Wise Center.
Allegheny (10-5, 0-1 NCAC) was held to a .071 hitting percentage over the four frames, while DePauw (9-4, 1-0 NCAC) hit at .171 clip. The Gators only had one player register double-digit kills (
Taylor Samuel), whereas the Tigers had three combine for 47.
Samuel collected her 10th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 17 digs. Middle hitters
Sarah Swartz and
Leah Franzluebbers added six kills apiece for the hosts.
Sophomore libero
Terra Schall upped her digs per set average once again with 38 on the evening. She was one of three players to register double-digit digs, joining the aforementioned Samuel and sophomore defensive specialist
Kylee Karczewski (17).
Franzluebbers lead the Gators with four blocks (one solo, three assist), while Swartz and junior outside hitter
Bailey Gawley tallied two block assists each.
DePauw took the first set, 25-16. The Tigers' Suzanne Peters was dominant in the opening frame, converting on seven of 11 swings with just a single error for a hitting percentage of .545. Peters would tally a match-high 21 kills over the course of the contest.
Allegheny responded with a 25-20 victory in the second stanza. The Gators hit .277 during the set with Samuel leading the charge. The Garden State native notched eight of her 11 kills in the frame, needing just 15 swings to do so.
The hosts fell behind early in the frame, 3-1, before getting a kill from Gawley and an attack error to tie it up. The teams traded the next six points to make it 6-6, but DePauw nabbed the next two to regain the lead.
After a kill from sophomore right side
Morgan Bush, Samuel started to take over. The senior rattled off back-to-back kills to push Allegheny ahead, 9-8, then converted on another swing after attack and handling errors to make it 12-8.
The Tigers stopped the bleeding after Samuel's third kill, but she came right back with her sixth of the set. Four more points were traded before Samuel found the floor once more; however, DePauw took the next two to cut the Gator lead to 16-13.
That advantage was trimmed to two at 18-16 when Peters connected on a swing. Allegheny spent a timeout to refocus and tallied a point out of the break after a handling error on the Tigers. The teams continued to swap points, but the Gators rattled off two straight at 20-18 with a block from Franzluebbers and Gawley and a block from the former.
DePauw burned a timeout and responded with a point out of it, but Samuel notched her eight kill of the stanza and Bush and Franzluebbers combined for a stop at the net to force set point. The Tigers would extend the frame once with a kill from Lauren Falotico; however, Franzluebbers took advantage of a long dig with a spike at the net to give Allegheny the set.
The visitors regrouped and took the third set, 25-17. Swartz connected on two of three swings for the Gators, while DePauw's Peters tallied seven more kills.
The Tigers finished off Allegheny with a 25-19 win in the fourth frame. The Gators were held to a negative .053 hitting percentage in the final set.
Sophomore setter
Justine Kelly dished out 28 assists in the defeat.
Allegheny closes out a six-match home stand tomorrow afternoon when No. 8 Wittenberg arrives at the Wise Center. Opening serve between the Gators and Tigers is set for 1:00 p.m. and is a part of Homecoming festivities on campus.
