RACHEL MILLER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The Lady Barons volleyball team came out strong but ultimately fell to the Penn State Altoona Lions 3-0 in its Tuesday night match.
The Lady Barons came back to their home court with energy after over five weeks of away games. After an initial back-and-forth which brought the score to 3-3, the Lady Barons broke ahead. A team effort with powerful final kills, especially by sophomore defensive specialist Marykate Taylor, quickly brought the score of the first game to 10-4 Barons.
The Lady Barons maintained their lead in the first game until the Lions responded strongly out of a timeout. The Lions scored five consecutive points, which narrowed the gap to 14-12 in favor of the Barons. The home team held on to their lead with some intense volleys, but another Lion scoring streak got the opposing team ahead, 22-19. The Barons evened the score to 22-22, but the Lions ended the game on top, 25-22.
In the second game, both teams fought for a hard-to-grasp lead. No one felt comfortable through a period of lead changes early. The Barons were the first to gain a significant lead, 10-6, but the Lions followed with a streak of their own, bringing the score to 11-10 Lions. The teams continued in this manner to 19-19, when the Lions ran away with the lead, bringing the final score again to 25-22 Lions.
The Lions took the reins in game three, quickly scoring six points to the Barons’ one. They continued to dominate to 11-2, until the Barons began a comeback which brought them up to 13-11 Lions. The rest of the game finished quickly as the Lions scored point after point to which the Lady Barons could not respond. The game ended 25-12 Lions, making the match 3-0 Lions.
Head coach Kelly Herrmann said, “We came out really strong at the beginning of the first set, at the beginning of the second set, and we let those sets get away. In the third set, I think early on we were trying too hard.”
“I’m proud of how hard they work and how hard they battle, and (we’ve) just got to be ready for the next match on Saturday,” said Herrmann.
The Lady Barons’ next home game is a conference match against D’Youville College, Saturday at 1 p.m.