Women's Volleyball Ends Home Slate With Victory

Women's Volleyball Ends Home Slate With Victory
October 15, 2011

McKeesport, Pa-  The Penn State Greater Allegheny Women's Volleyball team finished its home schedule with a 3-2 (23-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-13, 15-10) triumph over visiting PSUAC foe, Penn State New Kensington.

Greater Allegheny would jump out to a big lead early in set 1, as back-to-back Service Aces from Freshman Megan Carroll (Ramona Convent) gave them an 8-2 advantage.  Penn State New Kensington began to chip away at the deficit, and eventually evened the set at 16-16.  Three more ties and four lead changes later, New Kensington would hold on for a 25-23, comeback win.

The second set saw Penn State New Kensington sprint to a huge early lead, 8-0.  Two Kills and two Service Aces from Freshman Alyssa Finocchi (Baldwin)  forced a New Kensington timeout, as GA crept to within three, at 10-7.  Greater Allegheny would take over the lead at 12-11, one that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the set.  A Service Ace from Megan Carroll clinched the set, and capped off a 25-7 GA run.

Greater Allegheny came out strong in the third set, gaining the early advantage.  But as in the first set, New Kensington battled back to tie the game at 15-15.  The teams would go back and forth the remainder of the way, with New Kensington earning a 25-21 win.

With their backs against the wall, and the match in jeopardy, the Greater Allegheny women stepped up in a big way for the fourth set.  After getting ahead 7-6, GA would never look back.  A Service Ace from Freshman Samantha Clark (Steel Valley) gave them a 20-10 lead.  Greater Allegheny would cruise to a 25-13 win, setting up the thrilling fifth set.

After multiple ties and lead changes very early, the Greater Allegheny women found themselves trailing 7-3.  A GA timeout stopped the bleeding, and propelled them to tie the score at 7-7.  Back-to-back Kills from Alyssa Finocchi put GA up 10-8, and they would not look back from there.  A 15-10 win for Greater Allegheny earned them a 3-2 match victory.

Alyssa Finocchi turned in a career day, drilling 17 Kills and adding 7 Service Aces.  Megan Carroll had 7 Kills and 4 Service Aces, with Samantha Clark contributing 16 Assists.  Freshman Audra Besnak (Steel Valley) also aided the effort with 7 Assists.

With the PSUAC victory, the Penn State Greater Allegheny Women's Volleyball team ups its record to 5-18 overall, and 4-11 in the PSUAC.  The Lady Lions will finish up their season tomorrow, as they travel to Penn State DuBois for 12:00 PM match.