PITTSBURGH, PA -- The La Roche women's volleyball team advanced to their fourth straight AMCC Tournament Semifinal after sweeping D'Youville 3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-22) on Wednesday night. It is their second-ever postseason sweep.
The Redhawks dominated early running out to a 6-1 lead. Three of La Roche's points came off Laura Nath kills and Toni Torchia added a serving ace. La Roche continued their strong play at the net and D'Youville burned a timeout trailing 10-4.
The Spartans responded with six of the next nine points to cut the deficit to just three. Torchia and Nath got the Redhawks back on track with back-to-back kills and La Roche cruised from there. Nath had 5 kills and 7 kills while Sarah Storino had 9 digs.
La Roche got off to a slow start in the second set but they found their footing and forced a timeout at 13-7. Torchia, Nath and Hailey Ebersole capitalized at the net while Janet and Christine Aland forced D'Youville to go around them at the net.
The Redhawks proceeded by running away with the second set. They scored 12 of the final 15 points including two straight Storino serving aces. D'Youville struggled with seven attack errors while La Roche slammed down nine kills without an error.
Reilee Bradford carried the Redhawks early in the third set. Maddie Gestrich found Bradford on the right side as La Roche built a 12-6 lead. The Spartans answered with five straight points and cut the deficit to 24-22. Torchia responded with a kill to send the Redhawks to their fourth straight AMCC Tournament Semifinal.
Nath finished with a team-high 10 kills and 21 digs while Torchia had 9 kills and 16 digs. Hannah Scott contributed 17 digs and Janet Aland 2.5 blocks. Storino and Gestrich were excellet on sets combining for 31 assists.
The Redhawks move onto the Tournament Semifinal and will take on Penn State Altoona on Saturday at 2pm. Penn State Altoona are the #1 seed and the tournament host.
Photo courtesy of Ryan George.