ALLIANCE, Ohio —The Allegheny College volleyball team opened their season by splitting a pair of matches at Mount Union University Friday (Sept. 1).
 
In their first match of the day, Allegheny swept Grove City College 3-0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-23), marking the first victory for head coach Kelly Barzak at the helm of the Gators' program, which she took over last offseason.
 
The Wolverines jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the opening set before the Gators went on a run to tie the set at seven.  Once again, the Wolverines pulled ahead only for the Gators to respond with a run of their own to keep the game even midway through the set.  The back-and-forth play continued until the Gators went on a 3-0 run to take a 23-20 lead late in the set.  The Wolverines kept the set interesting as they earned a set-point but the Gators staved it off and picked up the close 26-24 win.
 
The teams matched one another point-for-point in the second set.  Tied at 10, the Gators constructed a 5-0 run to take advantage.  The Wolverines fought back, eventually taking the lead at 19-18.  The Wolverine lead was short lived as the Gators regained their footing down the stretch, winning the set 25-20.
 
After back-and-forth play to start the final set, Grove City jumped ahead, 11-8.  The Gators quickly fought back, narrowing the gap to 16-15.  After tying the set at 16, the Gators rattled off four straight points to take the lead late in the set.  The Wolverines pulled within one at 22-21, but Allegheny closed the set with a 25-23, sealing the season opening sweep.
 
Hannah Cubarney and Justine Kelly led the Gators with seven kills apiece.  Leah Franzluebbers and Grace Lengauer were not far behind, tallying six kills apiece.  Alysha Crowther finished with five kills.
 
 In addition to her kills, Kelly had 25 assists and five digs.
 
Terra Schall and Kylee Karczewski each had double digit dig performances.  Schall accounted for 12 while Karczewski had 10.  Schall also served up three aces.
 
In their second match of the day, the Gators fell to host Mount Union 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-9).
 
Megan Uht led the Gators with five kills.  Tamara Babic and Lengauer had four kills apiece.  Kelley tallied eight assists.
 
Defensively, Schall had another double-digit dig performance with 14.  Karissa Welker and Rebecca MacQuarrie had three apiece. 
 
The Gators are back in action Saturday (Sept. 2) at Mount Union, facing Alma and SUNY Geneseo.