Virginia Beach, VA. - The Penn State Greater Allegheny Volleyball team competed in their first ever United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Tournament semifinal game on Friday when they took on Penn State Fayette. Things did not go PSUGA's way and they fell 3-0. They will play for third place in the tournament on Saturday morning against UC Clermont.
It was a very familiar match up for PSUGA as they went against the reigning Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) champions Penn State Fayette. PSUGA fought hard in all three sets but just did not have enough to overtake Fayette and claim the victory.
PSUGA jumped out to a 5-1 lead early in the first set taking five of the first six points; however, PSU Fayette would battle back and tie the game at 12-12 halfway through the first set. It would not take long from there as the Roaring lions went on a 9-1 run and scored 13 of the last 15 points to pick up a 25-14 set one win.
The second set saw PSU Fayette jump out to a 12-6 lead in the early going. After PSU Fayette extended their lead to 18 to 8, PSUGA would fight back coming to within 6 points. Fayette would once again close out the set with a 25-17 win, taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
The final set of the night saw Fayette clinch their 18th sweep of the season. They got out to a lead early and rode it to a 25-11 set win completing the 3-0 victory. PSUGA's first ever run in the USCAA National Tournament was a successful one. With a young core returning for the 2020 season, they can continue to build off of this experience.
Sueriah Timsah (Mesquite, TX./West Mesquite HS) and Nicole Caballero (Miami, FL./Florida Christian HS) led he offense with five kills each in the loss. Julianna Brill (Mount Jackson,VA./Stonewall Jackson HS) finished off her successful year leading the defense with 10 digs while Andrea Ghiloni (Granville, OH./Granville HS) collected 15 assists.
PSUGA now moves on to the third-place game on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. They will take on the same team they faced in their USCAA tournament opener as they go against UC Clermont for the third place title.