Beaver Defends Home Court, Defeat New Kensington 3-0
September 27, 2011
Monaca, PA - The Penn State Beaver Women's Volleyball Team (6-8, 5-3 PSUAC) defeated rival Penn State New Kensington (New Kensington, PA) 3-0 (25-22, 25-9, 25-21).
In the first set, Beaver New Kensington took an early 7-2 lead. However a Kayona Ward (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls, PA) block at the net, turned the set around for Beaver who rallied off five straight points of their own to tie the set at 7-7. The teams traded points until Beaver took its first lead of the set off of a Natalie Gamble (Sto-Rox/McKees Rocks, PA) kill. The game saw six ties and four lead changes before Beaver rallied off three straight points, ending with a Gamble kill to give Beaver a 25-22 set win.
Beaver dominated the second set as Gina Richman's (Union/Edinburg, PA) ace, gave the Lady Lions a 8-1 advantage. Strong play from Gamble and Rachel Grubbs (Freeport/Sarver, PA) vaulted Beaver to a 25-9 victory.
The third set mirrored the first set, as the teams exchanged blows at the tune of ten ties and ten lead changes, before sophomore Amanda Palombo (Quigley Catholic/Aliquippa, PA) earned a kill to give Beaver a 21-19 lead. After a New Kensington error, Richman added a kill of her own to give Beaver some room to breathe, and they won a close match 25-21.
In the win, Grubbs had 8 kills and 16 assists, which led the team in both categories. Palombo and Jenn Fannin (Harbor Creek/Erie, PA) each had a team high 8 digs, while Ward led the Beaver, once again, in blocks with 2.
Beaver will host Penn State DuBois, who they previously beat 3-0 on September 14th, at home on Saturday, October 1st at 12 p.m.