AURORA, N.Y. – La Roche volleyball took to the road to open the AMCC Tournament, and the fifth seeded Redhawks pick up their first postseason win since 2018, defeating fourth seeded Wells, 3-1.
In set one, it was the Redhawks cruised to a 25-15 victory, behind a 15-3 run to close the set, after trailing 12-10 just shy of the midway point.
That strong play continued in set two, as La Roche jumped ahead 8-3, before growing the lead to a set high of eight points at 18-10.
Wells climbed back into the match, scoring eight of the next 11 to cut the score to 21-18, and as close as two at 23-21, until the Redhawks scored the set's final two points to lead 25-21.
Set three saw the Express find a rhythm, jumping ahead 15-8, but La Roche would fight back to cut the deficit to 18-17.
Wells closed the set scoring seven of the final 10 points to cut the match to 2-1 with a 25-20 win.
The fourth and what would be final set, was all Redhawks early, jumping out to a 5-0, then 9-3 lead.
A 6-0 Express run would even the set and the run totaled 12-2, as Wells took a 15-11 lead at the midway point.
Despite a push by La Roche to trim the deficit to 18-17, the Express countered to hold a 20-17 lead.
The Redhawks then locked in and set their sights on the AMCC Tournament semifinals, scoring eight of the sets final nine points to seal the postseason victory with a 25-21 win.
Junior Quinn Hughes and sophomore Kalli Grine led La Roche offensively with 12 kills each. Hughes did so hitting an exceptional .571 for the match, not having an error in 21 attempts.
In the assist box, senior's Madison Johnson and Emily Kasun were the leaders with 11 and nine assists respectively. Freshman Tanner Kephart also chipped in six assists.
Defensively, senior Mackenzie Kerkan notched a game-high 22 digs, with senior Lauren Tomasko chipping in 11 digs.
The Redhawks move into the semifinals of the AMCC Tournament and meet top seeded Penn State Altoona on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. for a chance to play in the AMCC Championship Game.
This is a rematch of Oct. 31 in which it was the Lions upending the Redhawks 3-1 (25-17, 19-25, 21-25, 18-25).