MEADVILLE, Pa. - After a back-and-forth opening three sets, the Allegheny volleyball team was unable to earn a comeback win against Denison, falling 3-1 to the Big Red.
Playing in front of a spirited home crowd, the Gators earned a convincing 25-19 third-set win to pull to within 2-1, but the Big Red closed the match out with a 25-9 victory in the fourth and final set.
On a day in which Allegheny College honored longtime head volleyball coach
Bridget Sheehan, who is currently battling cancer, the Gators played a strong first set, answering the Big Red rally-for-rally over much of the opening set. The Gators used a quick 4-1 run to take a 5-4 lead early on, before back-to-back kills from
Hannah Cubarney gave Allegheny a 7-5 cushion. The Big Red took advantage of four straight Allegheny attack errors to surge ahead 10-7, but the Gators clawed back, with a pair of put downs from
Leah Franzluebbers trimming the deficit to 17-15. The Gators would eventually tie it at 20, with kills from
Alysha Crowther and Franzluebbers capping off a 6-3 run. However, the Big Red ended the set with the momentum, claiming five of the final six points to win 25-21.
Welker led the Allegheny offense in the first set, tallying four kills, while Cubarney and Franzluebbers putting down three apiece, as the latter hit a strong .375.
Terra Schall had eight digs to lead both sides in the opening game.
Denison owned play to start the second set, jumping out to leads of 8-3 and 12-6, as they took advantage of five Gator errors over the span. The Big Red lead would eventually swell to 20-13, before the Gators bounced back with a big rally.
Alysha Crowther started the surge, putting down kills on back-to-back swings to make it 20-15, before a kill by
Lauryn Long and a Denison error cut the deficit to 22-17.
Terra Schall's service ace made it a four-point deficit, and Crowther and Long each followed with kills to make it 22-20. Denison committed another attack error on the ensuing serve, while Crowther and Long each answered with kills to tie the match at 23-all. The Gators were unable to cap off the comeback, however, as Denison closed out the set with the final two points to earn a 25-23 win and take a 2-0 lead.
Crowther tallied six kills in the second set, while Long put down three kills on as many attempts.
Behind a pair of Franzluebers kills, Allegheny jumped out to a 6-3 lead to open up the third set, but the Big Red countered with a long 9-2 run to go up 12-8. The Gators then came out of a timeout energized, with Long and
Lauren Duffy each putting down two kills apiece to eventually tie the score at 14. The two teams then traded points over the next several rallies, before kills from Schall and Franzluebbers, and an ace from Crowther, gave the Gators a 17-15 lead. Denison would pull to within two points on three separate occasions, before the Gators ended the set with four straight points, capped off by a pair of Cubarney kills, to claim the 25-19 victory.
Allegheny was unable to cash in on the momentum of the convincing third set win, as Denison roared out of the gates to open up the fourth. The Big Red jumped out to a 6-1 lead, before a pair of Crowther aces temporarily halted the momentum, making the score 6-4. It was as close as the Gators would get for the rest of the evening, as the Big Red countered with a decisive 12-2 run to jump ahead 18-6, and never looked back, claiming the fourth set by a 25-9 score.
Cubarney totaled a team-leading 10 kills for the Gators, while Crowther and Franzluebbers put down nine apiece. In addition to setting a career-high in kills, Crowther also tied her season high with three aces. Defensively, Schall racked up a team-leading 18 digs, and was one of three Gators to finish with double figures, as
Kylee Karczewski dug 14, and
Rachel Slotterback 10. At the net, Duffy led the Gators with three blocks (one solo), while Crowther and
Justine Kelly each had two blocks apiece. Kelly dished out 34 assists, to go with eight digs and four kills.
On #Battle4Bridget day, the Gators saw their highest attendance of the season, with a number of Allegheny volleyball alumnae returning to Meadville in honor of Coach Sheehan. At all four Allegheny home athletic events on the day, commemorative #Battle4Bridget t-shirts and bracelets were sold, and donations were collected, with all proceeds going to the Yolanda Barco Oncology Institute in Meadville. Upon the completion of the volleyball match, upwards of $2,100 were raised on behalf of Coach Sheehan, who was forced to take a leave of absence for the 2016 season as she battled the disease. T-shirts and bracelets will continue to be sold throughout the year, while donations can be made online in honor of the Gators' coach
at this link.
The Gators will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 22, when they host NCAC foe Kenyon at 2 p.m. in their home finale at the Wise Center.
