LATROBE, Pa.— The Allegheny College volleyball team opened their 2018 season at the Saint Vincent College Bearcat Challenge Friday (Aug. 31).
The Gators opened with a 3-2 loss against Waynesburg but bounced back with a sweep of Pitt-Greensburg.
Waynesburg 3, Allegheny 2 (25-14, 20-25, 11-25, 25-11, 15-10)
The Yellow Jackets got off to a fast start in the opening set, taking an 11-3 lead. The Gators slowly chipped away at the lead, cutting it to 15-11, but a 4-0 run for Waynesburg started to put the set out of reach. The Gators pushed again late, but ultimately fell 25-14 in set one.
The Gators rebounded with a second set win. Early in the set, the Gators took advantage of Waynesburg errors and a pair of aces by
Rebecca MacQuarrie as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead. Waynesburg fought back and were able to cut the advantage to just two points, 18-16. However, a pair of quick points by
Grace Lengauer pushed the Gator lead back up to 20-16. Leading 24-20,
Tamara Babic secured the set win with a kill.
The two teams went back-and-forth early in the third set before the Gators opened the flood gates. Leading 9-7, the Gators rattled off a 7-0 lead. After a Yellow Jacket point, the Gators went on a 5-0 run to increase their advantage to 19-8. The Gators allowed just two more Waynesburg points as
Alysha Crowther wrapped up the set win with a kill.
The fourth set had a similar start as the third, with the teams finding themselves tied at eight. The Yellow Jackets then went on a 4-0 run to gain an advantage. Trailing 14-10, the Gators went on a 5-0 run to regain the lead. The Gators maintained their lead until the Yellow Jackets called a timeout down 20-16. After the timeout, Waynesburg went on a 5-0 run to take the lead. After the Gators tied it at 21, the Yellow Jackets scored the final four points of the match to send it into set five.
After exchanging the opening six points of sudden death, the Yellow Jackets went on a 3-0 lead. The Gators fought back, bringing the score within one at 8-7. Waynesburg pushed their lead back up to three, 12-9, before the Gators called a timeout. However, the timeout failed to halt the Yellow Jackets as they finished the match on a 3-1 run to pick up the five set win.
Jyl Russotti had a big performance in her first collegiate game with eight kills, eight blocks and two aces. Lenguaer also finished with eight kills on top of her 11 digs and three aces. MacQuarrie led the Gators with 12 digs and 14 assists.
Rachel Slotterback also finished with a double digit dig total of 10.
Allegheny 3, Pitt-Greensburg 0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-18)
The Gators bounced back from their opening loss with a sweep of Pitt-Greensburg. The teams traded points early on but the Bobcats went on a 5-0 run to gain a 9-6 lead. The Gators responded in a big way, going on a 6-0 run. The set remained close but the Gators broke it open with a late 5-1 run as Babic wrapped up the opening set with a kill.
The Bobcats took an early 6-2 lead in the second set. The Gators kept the set close, as they pushed ahead on the heels of a 6-0 run midway through the set. The Bobcats went on a late run to cut the lead to 23-21, but the Gators held strong down the stretch as they took a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set three belonged to the Gators as they took a 9-5 early lead. They pushed that lead to 16-8 before the Bobcats called a timeout. The timeout failed to squash the Gator momentum as they kept up their consistent pace, winning the set 25-18 to seal their first win of the season.
Offensively, Megan Uht led Allegheny with eight kills. Crowther and Russotti had seven apiece. Slotterback had another solid defensive effort as she led the Gators with 14 digs to go with a pair of aces. Lenguaer added nine digs. MacQuarrie once again led the Gators with 12 assists.
The Gators are back in action Saturday (Sept. 1) for day two of the Bearcat Challenge, facing off against Frostburg St. and host St. Vincent.
