MIDDLETOWN, PA — The Penn State Berks women's volleyball team (12-13, 5-5) faced off against Penn State Harrisburg (15-7, 9-1), where the Nittany Lions fell 3-0 to the host Lions on Saturday, October 31 in United East action.
Berks could not overcome the Lions' early service pressure in the first set, falling behind 4-0 and dropping the set 25-15.
Delaney Gote answered with a kill from
Shea Leber, and
Emily Snader followed with another kill to get the Blue & White on the board, but the Lions later stretched the score to 13-4 with help from blocks and back-to-back aces.
Madelyn Caris stopped that run of points with a kill from
Tori Schaeffer, while Snader and Leber added kills as Berks tried to keep pace through the middle of the set. The visitors put together a late four-point stretch from 21-9 to 21-13 behind a Snader kill from
Libby Swoyer, two Lions attack errors and a block by Gote and Caris, but the Lions closed out the set.
Berks pushed back late in the second set, scoring four straight after facing a 24-17 deficit on a Leber kill, a Gote kill from Swoyer, a Snader block and a Lions setting error before the Lions finished the set, 25-21. Earlier, Gote put the Blue & White on the board with two kills from Swoyer, and
Ella Griffiths added an ace to tie the set at 3-3. The Lions answered with a 7-2 stretch to go ahead 10-5, with Berks getting points on a service error and an Ellie Brown attack error during that run. The Blue & White continued to find side-out points through Caris, Leber and Snader, and back-to-back Lions attack errors helped Berks move from 10-17 to 12-17 before kills by Caris, Gote and Leber kept the set within reach. The late run narrowed the gap to 24-21, but Brianna Ondishin Ribon's kill closed the set for the Lions.
Berks started the third set with a Snader kill from Swoyer and an attack error by the Lions for a 2-0 lead, but the Lions answered with seven straight points to move ahead 7-2. A Berks timeout came at 6-2, and a service error ended the run at 7-2, but the Lions followed with another seven-point stretch, including two Mollie Shadle aces, to make it 14-3. The Blue & White picked up back-to-back points on a Lions service error and
Shea Leber's kill from
Marissa Bailey, and later got a Snader kill from Bailey and a Snader block on a Nicole Dos Santos attack. The Lions stayed in front from there and closed the set 25-10 on a Camryn Wettstone kill and Ariana Pecunes ace.
WHO'S NEXT
Berks is locked in as the seventh seed for the United East Tournament. They will return back to Middletown, Pa. to face off against Penn State Harrisburg on Saturday, November 7. Time is to be determined.
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