PITTSBURGH, PA -- The La Roche women's volleyball team came away with a win and a loss in the AMCC Quadmatch on Saturday at the Kerr Fitness Center. The Redhawks nearly overcame a two game deficit but fell in the early match to Penn State Behrend 3-2 (25-22, 25-14, 22-25, 23-25, 15-10). La Roche swept D'Youville 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 26-24) in the late game.
The Lions built up a 21-14 lead in the first set but the Redhawks roared back to tie it at 22-22. Christine Aland sparked the run with a comebacker and spike at the net. Laura Nath then got the Redhawks within three with an ace and Hannah Scott tied it with an ace. Penn State Behrend regrouped and were able to squeak out a 25-22 game 1 win.
Penn State Behrend never trailed in the second set. They opened on a 5-1 run and used a 6-0 run to break things open.
The Redhawks turned things around in the third set. Penn State Behrend committed errors on three straight possessions and Haley Ebersole and Toni Torchia kills put the Redhawks ahead 10-5. La Roche built their lead up to 20-13 but four straight Behrend points closed the gap. Two straight Behrend errors and a Scott kill made it game point. Then a Christine Aland/Laura Nath block assist ended the set.
The fourth set was a game of runs. La Roche used a 6-0 run to take an 11-6 lead while Behrend jumped ahead with a 5-0 run. The Redhawks brought it to a 24-23 game point and Torchia slammed it down to end it.
The Lions had three serving aces in the final set and held on for a 15-10 victory.
La Roche never trailed in the first two sets of the second match. The Redhawks found themselves ahead 8-3 in the third set but a series of kills alllowed D'Youville to come back and take a 17-14 lead. La Roche responded with three straight points to tie it but D'Youville took advantage of three Redhawk errors to make it 21-17.
It looked like the match was headed for a fourth set but Coach Bajuszik called a timeout and La Roche responded. The Redhawks scored eight of the next eleven points and then Laura Nath ended it on a serving ace.
La Roche will travel to Franciscan on Tuesday for an AMCC Conference match.
Photo credit to Ryan George.