MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny volleyball team split a pair of non-conference matches on the opening night of the 2017 Gator Invitational at the David V. Wise Center.
 
In the first match of the evening, the Gators cruised past defending Presidents' Athletic Conference champion Bethany in three sets, winning by scores of 25-14, 25-12, and 25-16.
 
In the Gators' second bout of the night, their fortunes were reversed, as Thiel swept the match in straight sets (25-20, 25-23, 25-21).
 
With the split, the Gators move to 3-4 on the season.
 
In the opener against the Bison, the Gators boasted a balanced offensive attack, posting a .305 hitting percentage over the three sets.  Hannah Cubarney had a monster match, hitting .526 enroute to a team-leading 12 kills on 19 swings, while committing just two errors.  Classmate Leah Franzluebbers was just as impressive, putting away 11 kills while also tallying a match-high three blocks, and adding three service aces.
 
Alysha Crowther tallied six kills on just 11 swings, while Grace Lengauer and Megan Uht each put away three kills.
 
Defensively, Terra Schall led both sides with 20 digs, marking her third straight match with at least 20, while Karissa Welker had eight digs and a match-high five service aces.  Justine Kelly ran the efficient Gator offense, handing out 31 assists.
 
In set one, the Gators broke open a close match early, using kills by five different players to rattle off a 5-1 run to take a 10-5 lead.  The Gator advantage eventually swelled to 19-9 after a Cubarney kill and a pair of errors, before Allegheny closed out the set win  with four straight points, capped off with a kill from Crowther to take the 25-14 win.
 
The Gators rolled from the start in the second set, jumping out to a quick 7-1 lead after two kills from Cubarney and an ace from Welker.  After the Bison cut Allegheny's lead to 12-7, the hosts countered with five straight points, with Franzluebbers tallying a pair of kills, while teaming with Grace Lengauer on a block, to jump in front 17-7.  Kills on back-to-back rallies from Rebecca MacQuarrie eventually pushed Allegheny to a 24-11 lead, before Franzluebbers closed out the second set with with an emphatic kill to give the Gators a 2-0 lead for the match.
 
As as the case in the first two sets, the Gators used a quick rally to pull away to a big early lead.  Tied at two, Allegheny countered with an 8-2 run to jump ahead 10-4. The Gator lead would never shrink below six points for the rest of the set, eventually growing to 23-13 after a pair of aces from Kylee Karczewski.  Elizabeth Debich closed out the victory with a kill to give Allegheny the set 25-16, and the match 3-0.
 
Against Thiel, Cubarney again led the way with 12 kills, but the Gator offense was less efficient than in the Bethany match, committing 19 errors while hitting just .063. 
 
Franzluebbers had five kills and a pair of solo blocks, while Schall posted her fourth consecutive 20-plus dig match, with 24.  She was one of three Gators with double-digit digs, as Rachel Slotterback finished with 13, and Kelly 10, to go with 21 assists.  Welker led the team with two aces, while adding nine digs.
 
It was a back-and-forth battle in the first set, as the teams shared four ties and three lead changes before Kelly's kill put Allegheny up 12-10.  After a few traded points, the Gator lead would eventually grow to 17-13 on a Crowther kill.  The Tomcats clawed back, scoring nine of the next 11 points to jump in front 22-19.  A Thiel attack error would pull the Gators to within two, but the visitors quickly countered with three straight points to seal the set win.
 
The second set mirrored the first early on, as neither team led by more than two points as the teams tied at 13.  Franzluebbers and Cubarney each had two kills over the first half of the set, while the Gators also benefited from a trio of Thiel service errors.  Thiel then gained control, scoring five of the next six points to go in front 19-14.  Following an Allegheny time out, the Gators countered with five straight points of their own to tie it at 19, as Lengauer, Franzluebbers, and Kelly each had kills over the run.  The momentum was short-lived, as Thiel scored the next four points to go up 23-19, and the Gators were unable to come back, as the Tomcats took the set 25-23.
 
Thiel took a 10-6 lead to open the third set, and the Gators could not recover from the four-point deficit.  The Gators would pull to within two points, with the last time coming at 20-18, but Thiel ended on a 5-3 run to take the set 25-21, and the match 3-0.
 
On day two of the Gator Invite, Allegheny opens with an 11 a.m. match against St. John Fisher, before closing out the tourney with a 1:30 p.m. bout with SUNY-Oswego.