Lady Lions win wire to wire over Schuylkill

Hazleton, Pa. - The Lady Lions picked up win number four in the Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference on Saturday, dropping Penn State Schuylkill three sets to none. Hazleton never trailed on their home court that afternoon, building early leads with a strong service game and hard hitting from the outside that netted 12 aces and 38 kills.

A swift ten point advantage was all the Lady Lions would need to carry the first set. Sitting at 14-4, Hazleton would trade points with Schuylkill until reaching set point at 24-15. Schuylkill managed to fend off four set points by Hazleton until sophomore Samaya Hornsby (Richmond, Ca.) delivered one of her 12 kills on the day to squash the Schuylkill rally and give Hazleton the set one victory by the score of 25-19. 

Set two was no different as Hazleton pulled away early. Seven kills in the frame by sophomore Chelsey Dominguez (Bronx, Ny.) aided Hazleton as they held Schuylkill to consecutive points on just two occasions in the set. That effort kept Hazleton's lead well in tact as the Lady Lions notched 11 of the final 15 points to win the frame by a 14 point margin. 

Facing elimination, Schuylkill challenged Hazleton early on in the third, but once again Hazleton was able to pick up points in bunches, that two of which came at a crucial moment. Nursing a four point advantage, the Lady Lions strung together runs of four and five points to finish off Schuylkill by the score of 25-15 with seven of those scores coming by way of the kill or the ace.

Dominguez and Hornsby led the way once again for Hazleton, totaling 12 kills each on the afternoon. Freshman Alessandra Banta (Coatesville, Pa.) eclipsed the 20 assist mark for the second time in 2018, racking up a team best 23 dimes while sophomore Damaris Ayala (Berwick, Pa.) added assists of her own in addition to three kills, nine digs and a team best four service aces. 

Next up: Saturday's win makes it three straight in the PSUAC and Hazleton will seek to improve that streak on Sunday when they travel to Penn State Scranton for a 2:00 p.m. showdown.