Lady Lions sweep Scranton 3-0

Hazleton, Pa. - Freshman RosaLydia Caputo (Howard Beach, Ny.) and junior Abby Bessoir (Dunmore, Pa.) each earned double digit kills on Sunday afternoon, helping the Lady Lions to a 3-0 sweep over Penn State Scranton. Hazleton picked up the win by scores of 25-20, 25-12 and 25-12, improving their record to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the Penn State University Athletic Conference. 

Sunday's match was closely contested early on until Hazleton pulled away in the second and third sets. Both squads went back and forth and with the score tied at 12-12, Hazleton made their first scoring run of the day, picking off seven of the game's next eight points. Bessoir issued Scranton two of her 11 total kills on the day over that stretch but even that wasn't enough to seal up the set. Scranton responded with a five point run of their own, closing the gap to 20-18 in favor of Hazleton until a clutch point by Bessoir earned the sideout and stopped the bleeding. Hazleton would go on to close out the set on a 5-2 run and claim control of the match. 

After a solid finish in the opening frame, Hazleton found their rhythm and shut the door on Scranton. Scranton got within four points of Hazleton in the second set until sophomore Alessandra Banta (Coatesville, Pa.) proceeded to serve for the next eight consecutive points to open up a double figure lead at 19-7 and cruise to the two set advantage. The Lions were locked in from that point on and held Scranton to back to back points just once in the entire third frame to close out the win. 

Caputo was steady all afternoon on the offensive side, totaling 11 kills on the afternoon with a .400 hitting percentage, adding six digs to her credit. Bessoir equaled Caputo's mark with 11 kills of her own, seven of which came in a monster first set. Banta dished out 26 assists to lead the passing attack, adding a pair of aces and three kills of her own in the winning effort. 

Next up: The Lady Lions continue PSUAC play on Tuesday, September 24 when the squad heads to Penn State Wilkes-Barre for a 7:00 p.m. weeknight contest.