Hazleton, Mont Alto Advance to PSUAC Volleyball Championship

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The PSUAC Volleyball Championship semifinals went live from Rec Hall on the University Park campus on Monday night, with Penn State Hazleton advancing out of the first match of the evening and Penn State Mont Alto reaching their third straight championship match with a win in a five-set thriller.

The PSUAC Championship match will now feature two teams from the East, as Hazleton advances as the number one seed and Mont Alto as the two seed. The championship is slated for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 29th at Rec Hall, home to the 7-time NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball team from Penn State. Hazleton and Mont Alto split their season series, with each team winning on the other's home court.

Let's see how each match played out.

East #1 Penn State Hazleton - 3, West #2 Penn State Shenango - 1 (26-24, 26-28, 25-15, 25-11)

Penn State Hazleton took some time to get loose on Monday night, falling behind 6-2 in each of the opening two sets. They rallied for a first set win, and pushed the second set to extras before falling to Shenango to leave the match tied at a set each. Then Hazleton kicked in their overdrive, dominating the final two sets from start to finish for the 3-1 win. 

Hazleton was led by Sydney Mack with 17 kills, the only Hazleton player in double figures. Mack added 19 digs while Nora Jones had a match-high 27 digs for Hazleton. Mack was joined on offense by Kaytlin Kelley with eight kills, while Rebecca Dzuranin and Claire Riera-Gomez each had six. Sophia Del Vacchio set-up all but two of her team's kills, dishing out an impressive 42 assists in the win. Dzuranin also finished with double digit digs with 13.

It appeared that Shenango used most of their energy in the first two sets, as they ran out of steam over the final two. Three of their stars registered double-digit kills, with Kylee Loreno leading the way with 13. Cyra Cross and Sydney Ward each added 11, with Cross leading the team with 19 digs.

Shenango offered more attacks at the net than Hazleton but couldn't capitalize. Hazleton managed 159 total attacks to Shenango's 173, but Hazleton was more efficient with its .151 hitting percentage. Shenango finished the night at .058, which was hindered mostly later in the match. Shenango's .182 hitting percentage in the second set was its high-water mark while holding Hazleton to just .068 in Shenango's lone set victory. Hazleton committed eight fewer errors on the night and also had 16 total blocks to Shenango's 10.

East #2 Penn State Mont Alto - 3, West #1 Penn State Fayette - 2 (25-19, 25-11, 23-25, 16-25, 15-6)

After two sets, it didn't feel like this match was headed the distance. Mont Alto imposed their will late in the first set and rode that dominance through set two with a 25-11 win and a 2-0 lead. Fayette's own championship heritage kicked in, and the most southwestern campus in the PSUAC rallied for a 25-23 win in set three before asserting their own dominance in the fourth set, winning it 25-16 and forcing a deciding set. 

Mont Alto trailed in the fourth set 23-11 before rallying for a few points and picking up some momentum heading into the fifth set. That's all they needed as they cruised in the race to 15, jumping out to a 6-1 lead before leading by as many as nine at 12-3, before putting the finishing touches on the win.

Leslie Huckle led the attack for Mont Alto, tallying 19 kills and committing only four errors. Gracie Vaughn added 15 kills of her own and Arianna Davey was stout at the net, leading her team with 5 total blocks, including two solo. Katie Sinks and Zoey McCormack continued to share duties as the setter and defensive specialist, each finishing with double digits in assists and digs. Sinks had 24 assists and 11 digs, while McCormack had 19 dishes and 13 digs. Teammate Ashlyn Vandenbree recorded a match-high 24 digs on the back line for Mont Alto.

Emma Eckert led the way for Fayette with 31 assists, and teammate Amiah DeShields was the only Fayette player to record more than 10 kills, coming in with 16 on the night. Three Fayette players had 10 or more digs, including Eckert with 11, and Tyannah Eddings and Adela Blough tying for the team lead with 12.