PITTSBURGH, Pa. – La Roche volleyball hosted its home opener on Thursday night, winning a thrilling match against St. Vincent 3-0.
The final doesn't indicate how evenly matched this game was as every set came down to the wire.
In the opening set, the Redhawks (2-2, 0-0 AMCC) jumped ahead 8-4, then still held the lead later on at 15-10.
The Bearcats would fight back, scoring five of the next six points to cut the deficit to 16-15.
La Roche would lead 21-18 late set one, but a 3-0 St. Vincent run tied the game, before the Redhawks would finish the set scoring four of the final five points.
Set two saw the combatants battle into overtime, as La Roche pulled out a 30-28 set victory.
The Redhawks again jumped out to a 9-5 lead, but once again the Bearcats would use a 4-0 run to tie the game.
As the set went on, it was St. Vincent causing fits, as it grew a lead to 20-16, but La Roche responded with a 6-0 run to retake a two-point, 22-20 lead.
The Bearcats followed with a 3-0 run to lead 24-23 and with set point misplayed the serve and the service error tied the game.
Trailing 27-26, the Redhawks would capitalize on four of the final five points of the set to take the 2-0 lead.
In the third and final set, it was St. Vincent jumping ahead 4-1 and after La Roche tied the game, scoring was back and forth until the Bearcats grew a lead of 13-10, both of those leads being the largest of the entire set.
The Redhawks would go on to outscore St. Vincent 15-10 down the stretch, using a 5-1 run when trailing 14-12 to gain the lead, one it would never relinquish, as the Bearcats only managed to tie the game at three points down the stretch.
Sophomore Kalli Grine led the offense with 12 kills on the night, followed by junior Quinn Hughes with eight and senior Lauren Tomasko with seven.
Senior Madison Johnson again led the team with 16 assists, while fellow senior Emily Kasun chipped in 11.
Defensively, La Roche had four players with double-digit digs, including senior Morgan Johnson with a team high 22, fellow senior's Mackenzie Kerkan and Tomasko with 15 each and Hughes with 11.
The Redhawks now with a two-game win streak head to Hilbert College on Saturday, Sept. 9 for a tri-match against SUNY Potsdam at 2 p.m., followed by a matchup with Hilbert at 4 p.m.