McKeesport, PA. – It was a battle for third place in the Penn State University Athletic Conference West Division when the Penn State Greater Allegheny Volleyball team (3-7, 2-2) hosted Penn State Beaver (7-4, 3-1) on Saturday. PSUGA tried to battle back but couldn’t get the job done falling to Beaver 3-0 to move back to 2-2 in conference play.
Beaver put PSUGA on their heels in the first set getting out to a 6-2 lead over the first eight points of the match. PSUGA would battle back to bring the score to 12-8 before Beaver hit a 7-2 run that extended their lead to 19-10 and they would close out set one with a 25-15 win. PSUGA found themselves down 1-0 for the eighth time this season and would have to fight back to stay in the game.
They would come out hot in set two scoring five of the first six points to build a 5-1 lead early on. They would extend that lead to 17-12 before Beaver got their offense going rallying back to tie the score at 20-20 late in the set. Beaver went on to score five of the final eight points in the set and once again knocked PSUGA down 25-23 and held a 2-0 match lead.
The third set was even throughout with the score deadlocked at 18-18 towards the end of the set. However, PSU-Beaver would go on a late 4-0 run that got them ahead 22-18 and closed out the game with a 25-22 set win and a 3-0 sweep of the game. For PSUGA, it was their fourth 3-0 loss of the season as they try to build momentum for a possible playoff berth.
Sueriah Timsah (Mesquite, TX./West Mesquite HS) was once again all over the court leading the offense with 10 kills on 34 total attacks and finishing third on the team with eight digs. Timsah is second on the team in both categories this season and has been a leader for PSUGA on both sides of the ball.
Angelina Alpirez (San Jacinto, CA./San Jacinto HS) and Juliana Brill (Mount Jackson, VA./Stonewall Jackson HS) tied for the team lead picking up 11 digs a piece, and Andrea Ghiloni (Granville, OH./Granville HS) added 16 assists in the loss.
PSUGA now moves down to fourth place in the PSUAC West Divison standings sitting a game behind PSU-Beaver. They have to continue to win in conference play to make their first playoff appearance since the 2014 season. They currently sit in the number four spot and hold a 1.5 game lead over PSU-New Kensington.
The PSUGA Volleyball team continues conference play when they go on the road on Sunday to take on PSU-Fayette. Tip-off for Sunday’s game is scheduled for noon in the main arena.