CRESSON, Pa. – La Roche volleyball opened conference play on Tuesday night as it hit the road to face Mt. Aloysius. The match came down to the wire, but in the end it was the Mounties who came out on top 3-2.
In set one, it was the Redhawks who had the early edge, holding a 9-6 lead.
Mt. Aloysius would then turn around and score eight of the next 11 points to take a 14-12 lead, followed by back and forth action that saw La Roche tie the set at 19-19.
Unfortunately for the Redhawks, the Mounties sparked late, using a 5-0 run to jump ahead 24-19 and closed the opening set with a 25-20 victory.
Set two was all Mt. Aloysius for the first two-thirds of play, as the Mounties jumped ahead and held a late 20-14 lead.
La Roche would counter from that point, using a 6-1 run to trim the deficit to 21-20 and despite Mt. Aloysius taking a 24-20 lead following the run, the Redhawks would score the set's final six points to steal the set away from the Mounties.
Set three was mostly all La Roche, jumping ahead early after some back-and-forth scoring, to jump ahead by a set high eight points at both 19-11 and 22-24.
However, despite leading 24-17, the Redhawks had to hold off a late Mt. Aloysius 5-0 run to cut the lead to 24-22 and finished the set with a 25-22 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set four was even early, as the score was in favor of La Roche, 14-11, at the midway point.
Still leading 17-15 a few points later, the Mounties utilized a 4-0 run to jump ahead by two.
The Redhawks would get themselves within one at 20-19, but Mt. Aloysius scored five of the final six points to win 25-20 and send the match into the tiebreak set.
In the fifth and match deciding set, it was even early and at the midway mark, the Mounties clung to a 7-6 lead.
La Roche then sparked with a 5-0 run to lead 11-7 and then took that lead to 13-8.
Just two points away from a victory on opening night in conference play, the Redhawks were unable to hold off the host, as Mt. Aloysius scored the final seven points to win 15-13 and take the match.
Sophomore Kalli Grine led the offense with 10 kills on the night, while senior Lauren Tomasko added seven, followed by six kills by junior Quinn Hughes and freshman Aislyn Williams.
In the assist box, senior Madison Johnson led the team with 17, while fellow senior Emily Kasun chipped in 13.
Defensively, La Roche dominated in blocks, with three solo blocks and 26 assisted blocks and Hughes leading that stat with all three solo blocks and seven assisted blocks.
Senior Mackenzie Kerkan led the Redhawks with 30 digs on the night, while Tomasko had 15 and Kasun added 10 for the double-double.
La Roche now prepares to host Kuyper on Friday, Oct. 6 for a 6 p.m. start in the second to last non-conference clash of the season.