BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – La Roche volleyball continued its road venture, this time to Geneva for a tri-match against the host Golden Tornadoes and the Bethany Bison. The Redhawks opened the night strong, taking down Bethany, 3-1, but the second match against Geneva didn't go the way of the red and black, falling 3-0.
LA ROCHE 3 BETHANY 1
Set one was all La Roche, storming ahead early and never looking back.
The Redhawks opened the set in dominant fashion, jumping ahead to a 13-4 lead just shy of the midway point.
The Bison would cut the deficit down to no more than four at 20-16 and 21-17, as the red and black cruised to a 25-17 victory.
Set two was much of the same as set one, with La Roche jumping out to a 6-1 lead that grew to 13-5.
This time around, Bethany would trim the deficit to 15-11, but would never come any closer, as a 3-0 run moved the edge to 18-11 and never dropped below five from there, as the Redhawks took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-16 win.
The Bison took exception to the first two sets, dominating set three in the early stages, taking a 10-2 lead.
Still trailing 17-12 past the midway point, La Roche used a 6-1 run to propel itself back in the set and even the score 18-18.
Bethany wouldn't allow the red and black to do anything more, scoring the final seven points to take a 25-18 win and send the match to a fourth set.
Set four was complete domination by the Redhawks and cruised to the finish.
After trading the first two points, La Roche utilized a 7-1 run to open an 8-2 lead and grew that edge to nine-points at 14-5 just before the mid-point of the set.
The Bison would score the next point and after that, a 10-1 Redhawk run blew the doors open, making it 24-7 and would finish off Bethany with a 25-9 win.
La Roche totaled 55 kills across the four sets, the most in a match since Oct. 29, 2022 against Keuka in a five set match and the most in a four set match since Oct. 16, 2019 when the Redhawks had 60 against Penn State Altoona.
Kalli Grine led the charge with 15 kills, hitting .297 on the night, followed by Kylie Fehlman with 10 kills, swinging .333 and Quinn Hughes with nine kills and a .438 hitting percentage. Audrey Work and Megan Bologna both added seven kills and Brooke Bednarski chipped in six.
Bologna led the team on the defensive end with a game-high 22 digs, while Mackenzie Kerkan finished just behind with 21.
Bednarski had an all-around great game, adding 38 assists and seven digs to go with her six kills.
GENEVA 3 LA ROCHE 0
In the second game of the night, it was not as fortuitous for the red and black, falling 3-0.
Set one was all Geneva, storming ahead 14-2 and would never allow the set to come within any closer than seven to win 25-15.
Set two saw the Redhawks push ahead 4-2 early and then the match was tied 5-5.
That was when the tide shifted and the Golden Tornadoes used a 10-1 run to open a 15-6 edge and never look back, taking the set 25-11 and making it 2-0.
La Roche fought hard in the third set, leading 4-2 in the early stages again, but a 4-0 spurt by Geneva made it 6-4.
A big run went the way of the Redhawks finally, an 8-1 run built a 12-7 lead for the red and black.
After the score moved to 15-12 in favor of La Roche, the Golden Tornadoes struck for eight of the next 10 points to take over at 17-16.
The teams alternated the next nine points and with the score tied 21-21, it was Geneva taking four of the final five points to win 25-22 and take the victory.
This match was Fehlman's turn to lead the way, picking up five kills, followed by Work with four.
Kerkan led the team with 11 digs, while Makenna Woods contributed 10.
Bednarski fell a dig shy of a double-double, picking up 11 assists to go with her nine digs.
Another tri-match awaits the red and black, as they travel to Mt. Aloysius for a pair of neutral site matchups in Saturday, Sept. 28. The Redhawks open with Penn State Harrisburg at 12 p.m. and follow that with a matchup against Waynesburg, set for 2 p.m.