McKeesport, PA. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Volleyball Team (0-4, 0-0) battled in their home opener against Point Park on Friday, but in the end, it wasn’t enough as they fell three sets to one to the Pioneers. PSUGA was in every single set and battled against one of the top teams in NCAA Division II.
It was PSUGA that came out with the early momentum in set one. After falling behind 15-12 PSUGA rallied back behind the strength of a strong showing by freshman Alix Ellis (Derry, PA./Derry Area HS) from the servers box to take a 24-22 lead and held on to take the first set 25-23 grabbing a 1-0 set lead.
Point Park would take control from there grabbing wins in set two and three 25-14 and 25-10 to take a two sets to one lead heading into the final set. PSUGA would try their best to battle back getting as close as 15-12 in the fourth set, but a rally by Point Park pulled them away for good as they won the set 25-15 and the match three sets to one.
Ellis had a big day on the offensive side of the ball once again for PSUGA picking up a team leading nine kills on 21 total attacks between the four sets. Reigning PSUGA Female Athlete of the Week Sueriah Timsah (Mesquite, TX./West Mesquite HS) followed right behind with six kills and a team leading 24 total attacks on the night. Seiblesierra Ili (Barstow, CA./Barstow HS) led things on the defensive side of the ball finishing with a team leading nine digs and 17 assists.
PSUGA falls to 0-4 on the season, however, they have shown the ability to battle against some of the top teams across the USCAA and the NCAA. They have been right in every single set and will look to work on the little things as they look ahead to conference play on Saturday. Head coach Alyssa Finocchi was excited about the amount of talent she sees on the court and hopes her team can carry that into conference play.
PSUGA has a quick turn-around opening up the Penn State University Athletic Conference half of their schedule when they take on PSU-Mont Alto at 2 p.m. Come on out to the Wunderly Gymnasium or watch all the action live at bit.ly/PSUGAYT.