Lady Lions takedown Greater Allegheny in PSUAC Quarterfinals, 3-1

MONACA, Pa.— The Penn State Beaver volleyball team defeated Penn State Greater Allegheny in the PSUAC Quarterfinals, 3-1, on the team's home court on Thursday night.

The teams were neck-to-neck in the first, with the score tied at 11-11. But Greater Allegheny started to put some distance between Beaver with a 4-0 run (15-11) and then only scored six more points in the set to take a 25-16 loss in the first (1-0).

But Beaver answered back in the second, taking an 8-4 lead with the help of back-to-back kills by sophomore Ramiya White (Westland/Wayne Memorial). While Greater Allegheny scored on the next rally (8-6), Beaver then made a 7-0 run with the last two points coming from back-to-back aces by senior Alexis Albrecht (Oakdale/Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter) to give the Lions a 9-point advantage (15-6). Beaver kept the pressure on Greater Allegheny with both sides of the floor clicking on all cylinders to take a 25-16 with and tie the game up at 1-1.

In the third, the Lady Lions opened the set with an 8-4 lead with the help of early back-to-back kills from sophomore Emily Keener (Utica). But down the stretch, Albrecht dealt the final blows to Greater Allegheny after she scored five service aces within the final seven rallies to give Beaver its most dominant performance of the match with a 12-point win (25-13).

The teams battled hard in the fourth, but the Lady Lions pulled away with the win, 26-24, with senior Amanda Mike (Hopewell) and freshman Priscilla Medal (Naples/Lorenzo Walker Tech) combining for nine kills, giving Beaver a 3-1 win to propel the team to the PSUAC Semifinals.

Inside the box

Mike led the way for Beaver, finishing with 12 kills, two aces and eight digs, followed by Medal, who contributed 11 kills, two assists and four digs. Albrecht also led Beaver in service aces with six aces in the game. 

Sophomore Kelsie Hallum (Hopewell) led the team in assists with 33.

On defense, sophomore Heaven Bowman (Houston/Dulles) led the team with 18 digs, followed by freshman Ashley Rabang (El Dorado Hills /Oak Ridge), who contributed 14 digs of her own. Keener also led the team in blocks with two for the evening.

The Lady Lions will now face off against Penn State Schuylkill at Rec Hall in State College, Pa., for the PSUAC Semifinals. The game is slated for 5 p.m.