By: Jeremy Smith
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 LATROBE, Pa.— The Allegheny College volleyball team continued their opening weekend at the Saint Vincent College Bearcat Challenge Saturday (Sept. 1) in Latrobe.
Similar to day one of the Challenge, the Gators fell in their first game but bounced back for a win in game two.
Frostburg St. 3, Allegheny 0 (25-17, 25-17, 26-24)
In the opening set, the Bobcats jumped out to a 9-3 lead. Frostburg St. rode that lead throughout the rest of the set as they captured it 25-17.
The Bobcats had a similar start in the second set, taking a 9-4 lead. After the lead grew to 13-6, the Gators charged back and cut the lead to 14-10. The game remained close, but the Bobcats went on a late 4-0 run to increase their lead to 23-14. The Gators answered with three straight points, but Frostburg tallied the final two points of the set to increase their match lead to 2-0.
The teams traded points to open the third set, but a 5-0 Bobcat run gave them a 12-6 lead. The Gators regained their composure as they answered with a 7-1 run to tie the set at 13.
Tied at 13, the teams traded 3-0 runs as they remained tied at 16. After trading points back-and-forth, Frostburg went on another 3-0 run to take a 21-18 lead. Once again, the Gators responded with a run of their as they moved ahead 22-21. Two quick Bobcat points put them back in the lead, but the Gators earned a set point at 24-23. However, the Bobcats called a timeout, and won the final three points of the set to pick up the match victory.
Alysha Crowther led the Gators with seven kills.
Grace Lengauer finished with six kills to go alongside a team-high 10 digs.
Jyl Russotti and
Elizabeth Debich had four kills apiece.
Rachel Slotterback had eight digs, while
Taylor Besch added seven.
Allegheny 3, Saint Vincent 2 (25-11, 15-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-6)
The teams traded points early on as they found themselves tied at seven. At that point, the Gators took complete control as they went on a 10-0 run. After the run was ended, the Gators allowed just three more Bearcat points as they cruised to a 25-11 set win.
In set two, the Bearcats controlled the flow throughout as they took a 16-4 lead. The Gators fought back late in the set but it was not enough to overcome the early disadvantage as the Bearcats evened the match at one.
The Gators got off to a fast start in the third set, taking a 10-4 lead. However, the Bearcats fought back and went on a 9-0 run to take the lead. The Gators pulled within one point at 16-15, but the Bearcats regained control and closed out the set to take a 2-1 lead.
The fourth set was closely contested. The teams traded points early on until the Gators gained a small 12-10. The lead never grew to more than two as the teams found themselves tied at 19. The Bearcats took their first lead since the beginning of the set at 23-21. The Gators called a timeout and it worked, as they closed the set on a 4-0 run to force a decisive set five.
The momentum carried over into the fifth set as the Gators won the opening four points. Allegheny continued to control the set, as they led by as much as seven points (12-5). Leading 14-6, Russotti wrapped up the five-set match with a kill.
Tamara Babic led the Gators with 12 kills. Russotti finished with nine kills, five aces and four blocks. Megan Uht also had nine kills. Slotterback had a career-high 26 digs to lead the team. She also shared the team-high with five aces.
Eden Merkle and Lengauer had 18 digs apiece.
Olivia D'Andrea had 11 digs and served five aces.
For her play on the weekend, Russotti was named to the All-Tournament team.
