Women's Volleyball Continues Strong Play, Improves to 2-1 in the PSUAC

McKeesport, Pa-  The Penn State Greater Allegheny women's volleyball team jumped ahead of Penn State New Kensington 2-0, before cruising  in set four, winning the PSUAC match 3-1.  GA has now won two straight matches.

  Greater Allegheny used a balanced and powerful attack to win set one handily, 25-13.  Set two was much more contested, tying for the 13th time when the teams found themselves deadlocked at 22.  Sophomore Alyssa Finocchi (Baldwin, PA) drilled her second consecutive kill, putting GA ahead, 23-22;  two additional points clinched the set, 25-22.

  Greater Allegheny took an early 5-4 lead in the third set, following a kill from sophomore Audra Besnak (Steel Valley, PA).  With GA leading 9-6, New Kensington would burst in front 16-9, following a 10-0 scoring run.  A kill from Finocchi brought Greater Allegheny close, putting them down just 17-14.  New Kensington countered with 5-2 run, increasing their lead to 22-16.  Battling back yet again, consecutive service aces from Besnak made the score 22-20. New Kensington would hold on in the end, however, winning a tight set 25-23.

  Holding a 2-1 lead, and wanting to avoid a fifth set, the GA women came out firing in set four- a big block from sophomore Christina Floyd (St. John Neumann, PA) gave them an early 8-4 lead.  A kill from freshman Haley Worden (Madonna, PA) pushed the Greater Allegheny lead to 15-9, forcing a New Kensington timeout.  Up 24-13, Finocchi drilled the decisive kill, clinching the set (25-13) and match. 

  Alyssa Finocchi led GA with 11 kills and three service aces, while adding nine digs.  Christina Floyd added seven kills and seven digs, with Audra Besnak drilling four kills and three service aces.  As a team, Greater Allegheny was strong on the attack, with a hitting percentage of .271.

  The conference win improves GA's record to 4-6 overall and 2-1 in the PSUAC.  The women return to action this Saturday, when they travel to Penn State Brandywine for two matches.  They will meet Brandywine at 2 PM, then follow it up with a 4 PM match against Penn State Schuylkill.