ALTOONA, PA -- The Redhawks closed the 2017 volleyball season in an epic five set battle in the AMCC Championship Match. La Roche and Penn State Behrend traded wins in the first four sets before Behrend won the deciding fifth set and the 3-2 match (25-19, 23-25, 17-25, 25-17, 15-7). The Redhawks return home as the AMCC Runner-Up and a trophy representing the programs tremendous strides to becoming one of the conference's elite teams.
La Roche climbed ahead 10-6 in the first set forcing Behrend to burn an early timeout. Hannah Scott got things going with an ace and every Redhawk playing at the net got involved with kills. Behrend collected themselves and forced the Redhawks to call a timeout with the score tied 13-13. The Lions' Amanda Henry provided five kills following the timeout and Behrend earned a 25-19 Set 1 victory.
The early portion of the second set felt similar to the first. The Redhawks took an early 10-6 lead and Behrend tied it again at 13-13 forcing a La Roche timeout. However this time the Redhawks had the answer and were able to tie the match at 1-1. The Lions held a 19-17 advantage but four straight errors allowed La Roche to jump ahead 21-19. Toni Torchia ended the set with a kill and a 25-23 victory.
Both teams were tied 10-10 in the third set before the Redhawks ran off five straight points and a 15-10 lead. Erin Connor capped the run with a serving ace. Behrend got within a point but the Redhawks ended the set scoring 9 of 10 points. Scott recorded two aces in the set.
La Roche entered the fourth set with the momentum and ran out to an 11-9 lead. Behrend called a timeout and responded with seven straight points to take control of the set. Torchia and Reilee Bradford kept the Redhawks in the set with strong play at the net but Behrend forced a deciding set with a 25-17 win.
The Redhawks opened the fifth and final set with a 2-1 lead but two straight serving aces allowed Behrend to force a timeout with a 6-2 lead. Bradford, Haley Ebersole and Christine Aland recorded kills but the Lions held on for the match victory.
Toni Torchia and Laura Nath were instrumental in the Redhawks run to the championship match and were rewarded with spots on the All-Tournament Team. Torchia finished with seventeen kills and 26 digs and Nath 15 kills and 30 digs. Torchia closes her career as one of the most accomplished players in program history and Nath surpasses the 1000 kill mark.
Hannah Scott finished the match with 41 digs and an incredible 99 in three postseason matches. Her 684 for the season rank fifth most in AMCC history.
Sarah Storino and Maddie Gestrich were terrific on sets and the Redhawks assisted on 53 of 55 kills.