McKeesport, Pa. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Volleyball team (8-9, 6-6) is looking to make big strides towards a Penn State University Athletic Conference playoff spot this weekend as they have two matches, taking on Penn State Dubois (13-2, 9-1) on Saturday and Penn State Beaver (13-7, 9-3) on Sunday.
PSUGA had a big weekend last weekend as they took four PSUAC matches to improve to 8-8 overall and 6-5 in conference play. However, there momentum got derailed a little bit this week when they fell to Penn State Fayette their last time out on Wednesday three sets to nothing. It was the ninth time this season that PSUGA has been swept in a match.
Communication and great offensive play had been what led to the PSUGA six game winning streak that they accumulated prior to Wednesday’s loss. Laura Vazquez Diaz (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Cupey Maria Montessori) was the one leading the charge collecting 27 kills in 61 total attacks combined between the four matches last weekend. She also kept the communication going between the ladies as they were able to call out everything that was happening on the court.
Hayley Maksin (Port Vue, Pa./South Allegheny) and Kaylee Holtzman (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) also stepped up and had great weekend’s. Maksin collected 21 kills in 51 total attacks and Holtzman collected 19 kills in 34 total attack opportunities.
PSUGA has to deal with a tough latter half of their schedule as three of the four teams that they have left to face in the 2017/18 season have 10 or more wins. Of the four remaining contests, PSUGA would have to win at least two of those matchups to have the best chance possible at making the PSUAC playoff tournament.
Their two games this weekend will be no easy task as they have to go up against two PSUAC powerhouses in the forms of Penn State DuBois and Penn State Beaver. These two teams did battle on Wednesday with PSU-DuBois taking the match three sets to one to help extend their lead over Beaver in the standings.
Melody Young would lead the offensive charge for Penn State DuBois collecting 13 kills in 28 total attacks, both team high’s in the contest. Grace Earl followed behind her with eight kills in 12 total attacks. For Penn State Beaver, Brooke Tomasko had a lot of attack opportunities leading the team with 41, but, she was only able to collect seven kills in the contest. Jenna Pertrucci led the team in kills with 13 in 29 total attack opportunities.
The histories of these two match-ups take very different forms with PSUGA having a lot of success against PSU-DuBois and not so much success against PSU-Beaver. They are 12-2 against PSU-Dubois since 2011/12 with one of those loses coming this season. However, they are just 4-11 in that same time span against PSU-Beaver including a 2-0 record in the PSUAC playoffs. These are two very important games for the PSUAC playoff landscape, and PSUGA will be looking to clinch a spot.
Both matches are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. with PSUGA going on the road Saturday against PSU-DuBois and returning home on Sunday to face PSU-Beaver.
