READING — The Penn State Berks women's volleyball team (4-4) had their first home match this season as they took on Penn State Mont Alto (4-2) in a non-conference matchup on Thursday, September 17. The Nittany Lions went to sweep Mont Alto 3-0 (25-7, 25-11, 25-14) on the night.
The Nittany Lions built separation immediately and finished the first set with a 25-7 win, starting with
Libby Swoyer serving through a 5-0 opening stretch that included two kills apiece from
Delaney Gote and
Shea Leber. After Penn St.-Mont Alto got on the board, Berks answered with a 7-0 run from 5-1 to 12-1, with
Ella Griffiths adding an ace and Gote,
Dani Tribbett and
Madelyn Caris contributing kills. The Blue & White kept adding points through the middle of the set, winning seven of eight rallies from 13-3 to 20-4 as
Gabryella Maney assisted kills by
Julia Zaprazny and
Emily Snader, served an ace and was involved in a stretch that also included an
Emily Snader block. Down the stretch, Caris, Snader and Zaprazny added kills before two Penn St.-Mont Alto errors closed the set for the Nittany Lions at 25-7.
Berks built early separation in the second set and finished it off for a 25-11 win over Penn St.-Mont Alto. After the set was tied 1-1, Gote answered with a kill from
Libby Swoyer and paired with
Emily Snader on a block as the Nittany Lions moved ahead 3-1. Snader kept the attack moving with multiple kills,
Julia Zaprazny added another, and
Karlie Kerschner served an ace as Berks reached a 10-3 advantage. The Blue & White continued to add points from several spots, including a Tribbett kill, a Leber/Tribbett block and a
Libby Swoyer ace, before Leber delivered two late kills and Tribbett ended the set with a kill from
Gabryella Maney.
The Blue & White recovered from a 6-2 deficit in the third set by scoring eight straight points to move in front 10-6, including seven consecutive points with
Marissa Bailey serving. During that stretch, Gote had two kills,
Emily Snader added two more, Leber put down a kill and Snader and Gote combined on a block. Berks created more separation from 11-7 to 16-7 behind
Gabryella Maney's service turn, using a
Tori Schaeffer kill and a series of Penn St.-Mont Alto errors.
Gwen Tew, Tribbett and Gote added late kills as the Nittany Lions pushed the set to 24-12 before finishing the set 25-14 on a Penn St.-Mont Alto attack error.
Gote led Berks with 14 kills, hit .409 and finished with 15.0 points.
Emily Snader added eight kills on a .538 hitting percentage and recorded three total blocks.
Libby Swoyer posted 20 assists, seven digs and one service ace.
Mackenzie Davis collected a team-high 12 digs and added four assists.
WHO'S NEXT
Up next, the Berks volleyball team will travel on the road to take on Elizabethtown College on Saturday, Sept. 19, in a doubleheader. First match begins at 11 a.m,
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