LATROBE, Pa.—The Allegheny College volleyball team opened their 2019 campaign at the Bearcat Challenge, hosted by St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. Friday (Aug. 30).
The Gators lost their opening match to Alfred University 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 15-25, 25-20, 15-12) before bouncing back with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-20) win against the University of Pittsburgh - Greensburg in their second game of the day.
Game One – Alfred 3, Allegheny 2
The Saxons won the opening set 25-21. The Gators were able to recover, taking set two 25-22 to tie the match. In the third set, the Gators picked up the biggest set win of the match, 25-15, to take control. However, the Saxons took the third set 25-20 to force a deciding fifth set.
The Gators jumped out to an early lead in the fifth set, 5-1, before the Saxons came back. Down 11-10, Alfred won five straight points to take a 13-11 lead. Allegheny cut the lead to one following a timeout, but the Saxons picked up the final two points to seal the win.
In her first collegiate game,
Kendall Crum (Chattanooga, Tenn./Girls Preparatory) led the Gators with 16 kills.
Grace Lengauer (Avella, Pa./Avella) also finished in double digits with 10 kills.
Tamara Babic (Belgrade, Serbia/Third Belgrade) added nine kills.
Olivia D'Andrea (Pittsburgh, Pa./Serra Catholic) had a team-high 28 assists while
Raelynn Dorscheid (Macedon, N.Y./Penfield) had 17.
Rebecca MacQuarrie (Waterford, Pa./Fort Leboeuf) led the Gator defensive effort with 22 digs.
Cheyenne Wilson (Chico, Calif./Pleasant Valley) tallied 19 digs to go alongside eight kills.
Taylor Besch (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) ended the match with 10 digs.
Game Two – Allegheny 3, University of Pittsburgh – Greensburg 1
The Bobcats picked up a narrow, two-point win in the opening set. They led early in set two before an 11-0 Gator run put them in firm control, taking the set 25-17. The momentum carried over to the third set as they cruised to a 25-15 win, scoring the final six points of the set.
The final set started with five straight points from the Gators. The Bobcats narrowed the gap, but a 4-0 run late gave the Gators a 25-20 win for their first victory of the season.
Babic led the Gators with 10 kills.
Jyl Russotti (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney),
Alysha Crowther (Santa Cruz, Calif./Santa Cruz) and Lengauer had nine kills apiece.
Megan Dennis (Corry, Pa./Corry) had a team-high 22 assists while D'Andrea contributed 18.
Defensively, MacQuarrie once again led the Gators with 17 digs. Besch was also in double-digits with 10 digs. Russotti and Crum had three solo blocks each.
The Gators return to action Saturday (Aug. 31), facing host St. Vincent and Westminster College.
