DELAWARE, OHIO - The Allegheny volleyball team was unable to claim its first North Coast Athletic Conference victory of the season, falling in three sets to host Ohio Wesleyan.
The Battling Bishops won by scores of 25-23, 25-18, and 25-19.
Freshman
Lauryn Long continued her strong play of late, as she led the Gator offense with a career-high nine kills against just one error, good for a stellar hitting percentage of .364. Long also tallied the Gators' long service ace of the day, while she added three digs on defense.
Junior
Hannah Cubarney also had a solid day for the Gator offense, as she tallied eight kills, marking the ninth match this season in which she put down at least eight. The Trafford, Pa. native also led Allegheny with three blocks, including one solo.
Junior
Terra Schall topped a balanced Allegheny defensive effort, as she recorded 14 digs, and was one of three Gators to finish with 10 or more, joining classmates
Kylee Karczewski (11) and
Rachel Slotterback (10). Third-year setter
Justine Kelly dished out 24 assists.
In the opening set, both teams battled back and forth, with neither squad enjoying more than a three-point advantage throughout the duration. A kill from
Alysha Crowther gave the Gators their first two-point advantage of the day, 8-6, before the visitors stretched their lead to 16-13 on a Cubarney put down. Long kept the Allegheny lead at 19-18 after her fourth kill of the set, but the Bishops rattled off a 5-1 run to go up 23-20. Facing set point, an Ohio Wesleyan error allowed the Gators to cut the gap to 24-23, but OWU quickly scored the deciding point to seal the first set.
Ohio Wesleyan raced out to a 6-1 lead in set two before the Gators regrouped and eventualy trimmed the deficit to 9-7 after a
Lauren Duffy kill and another OWU error. The two teams would battle point-for-point over the next several rallies, but after OWU's lead shrunk to 18-16 on a service error, the hosts ended the set by scoring seven of the final 10 points to claim the 25-19 win.
The final set followed a similar theme as the second, with the Bishops jumping in front 4-1, only to see the Gators score three of the next four points to pull to within one. Three straight OWU points made the score 11-7, before a Long kill was sandwiched by a pair of OWU miscues to again make it a one-point margin. The Gators were unable to draw even, however, while the Battling Bishops ended on an 8-2 run to take the set 25-18, and the match 3-0.
The Gators will return home for their next action, as they play host to NCAC foe Oberlin on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. in the David V. Wise Center.
