McKeesport, PA. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Volleyball team (2-6, 1-1) returns to Penn State University Athletic Conference play on Wednesday when they go on the road to face PSU-DuBois (2-7, 1-1) at 7 p.m. After splitting their first two conference games, PSUGA is looking to take the lessons they learned from non-conference play and bring them into conference action.
Last time out, PSUGA dropped a tough match to Point Park 3-0 losing the three sets by scores of 25-14, 25-11, and 25-17. Despite the losses, PSUGA showed an ability to battle throughout the night and stayed right with the NAIA powerhouse. After falling behind 5-0 in the first set, PSUGA battled back rallying for four straight points to make the score 5-4. PSUGA would keep it as close as 14-10 before Point Park scored seven straight points and 11 of the final 12 points to pick up a 25-14 set win.
They suffered the same fate in the final two sets of the night, fighting to a near-even score halfway through the set before Point Park went on a run and pulled away for the win. PSUGA showed that they can play with one of the toughest teams in the NAIA and look to take that same competitive spirit to the conference side of their schedule.
So far this season, the PSUGA Volleyball team is 1-1 in PSUAC play picking up a 3-2 win against PSU-Shenango and a 3-1 loss to PSU-Mont Alto. They currently sit in fourth place in the PSUAC West Division and, if the season ended today, they would claim a playoff spot. This year’s team is determined to be the first since the 2014 season to get back to the tournament and have shown an ability to get there with a talented group of girls.
Standing in their way is a PSU-DuBois team that has momentum on their side. After dropping three straight games, they came back and defeated PSU-New Kensington on Sunday 3-0. Mont Alto had full control throughout the match not allowing New Kensington to score more than 16 points in any single set. Allison Easton led the way for PSU-DuBois picking up a team-high 17 kills on 19 total attacks.
Previous Matchups
PSUGA and PSU-DuBois have faced off in 18 different match-ups all-time with PSUGA holding the series lead at 13-5. However, in their first meeting this season, it was PSU-DuBois that got the upper hand in a 3-0 win at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Tip-off Tournament. Alix Ellis (Derry, PA./Derry Area HS) led the way in that game with nine kills on 17 total attacks while Angelina Alpirez (San Jacinto, CA./San Jacinto HS) led the defense with 15 digs.
Wednesday’s game against PSU-DuBois is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. and will be played at the PSU-DuBois campus. You can watch the game live at https://www.psuduboisathletics.com/multimedia.
