MEADVILLE, Pa. – It was a tale of two matches for the Allegheny College volleyball team this afternoon, but the results were the same – a pair of wins against local rivals Westminster (Pa.) College and Grove City College to close out the Gator Invitational.
Allegheny needed just over two hours to defeat the Titans as it battled back from a 2-0 deficit to win the match in five frames. The Gators' bout with the Wolverines didn't provide the same drama as the hosts won in straight sets.
Westminster's offensive attack was clicking early as it hit .375 in the opening stanza and .200 in the second frame. A 6-3 edge in service aces kept both sets close (23-25, 21-25), but when the dust settled the Titans carried a 2-0 lead into the third.
Facing its first of three must-win stanzas, Allegheny again used its serving skills and an opportunistic attack to pick up a 25-23 win. Junior outside hitter
Karissa Welker found the floor five times in the set, while freshman middle hitter
Lauren Duffy added three kills at the net. Welker also served two of the Gators' three aces in the frame, as the team owned an overall edge of 11-3 in that department.
The second must-win stanza needed extra points to decide, but ultimately Allegheny made enough plays to claim a 29-27 decision.
Down 24-21 and facing match point, junior outside hitter
Hannah Cubarney kept hope alive with a kill on the next serve. Senior right side
Bailey Gawley followed that up with a kill of her own, then Bailey and Gawley teamed up to stop a Delaney Saxton attack at the net, tying the set up at 24-all.
Westminster burned a timeout after that, hoping to regroup and finish the match off. A bad set against the hosts gave the Titans match point, but Gawley kept the hosts alive with her third kill of the frame.
Again the visitors had match point at 27-26, and again a Gator came up big as Welker found the floor off a feed from junior setter
Justine Kelly. That seemed to give Allegheny the boost it needed as it forced a deciding fifth frame thanks to an attack error and Franzluebbers kill.
In the winner-take-all set, Westminster held an early 5-1 advantage and stayed ahead at 9-6 before a six-point swing turned the tide in favor of the Gators. Kelly had three kills and a service ace over the course of that run, while Cubarney added two. The junior outside hitter added a third kill and her fifth of the frame to make it 13-10, and Welker sealed the victory by tallying two kills opposite of Titan points.
Welker (14 kills, 19 digs) and Kelly (48 assists, 12 digs) posted double-doubles, while Cubarney led Allegheny with 15 kills. Junior libero
Terra Schall collected a team-high 23 digs over the five sets, and Duffy led the block brigade at the net with five rejections (2 solo, 3 assist).
The Gators cruised in the second match, hitting .217 over the course of three sets en route to 25-12, 25-23, and 25-20 wins.
Franzluebbers paced the Allegheny attack with 10 kills against Grove City, while Welker and Cubarney added eight and seven, respectively. Sophomore defensive specialist
Rachel Slotterback served four aces and tallied a team-best 14 digs.
Kelly dished out 29 assists and found floor on six swings in the second match.
Schall was the Gators' All-Tournament Team selection for her defensive prowess over the four matches. The Kittanning, Pa. native collected 82 digs on the weekend and moved into the program's career top 10 for that category last night.
Allegheny continues non-conference play next weekend at the St. John Fisher Tournament. After defeating D'Youville in straight sets last night, the Gators will play the Spartans again to open the invitational on Friday, Sept. 16 at 3:00 p.m. before closing the night with Alfred (N.Y.) University.
