Lady Lions drop pair of matches versus York and Mont Alto

Hazleton, Pa. - The Lady Lions (1-7, 0-3 PSUAC) played a pair of conferences matches on Saturday afternoon at the Thomas M. Caccese Gymnasium, squaring off with Penn State York and Penn State Mont Alto. Hazleton battled with York, but was unable to turn the tables on the visitors, losing 3-0 in straight sets. Following the contest with PSU York, the Lady Lions took to the court against Mont Alto but were outmatched by the power attack of the undefeated hitters from Mont Alto.

Match 1: PSU Hazleton 0, Penn State York 3

York took a commanding 11-1 lead to start off set one, but the Lions clawed their way back into the match with a strong serving game from junior Tina Beiland (Philadelphia, Pa.) and sophomore Usgal Zandanbal (Ulaanbaatar, Mgl.). Hazleton would tie the set at 25 a piece before York's Jasmine Berry doused the Lions hopes, winning the set 27-25 for York. Hazleton fell behind early in set two and was unable to find any offensive rhythm, combining for just 13 attacks in the frame. York would go on to take a 2-0 advantage after a set two victory of 25-16 over Hazleton. The Lady Lions regained their composure for the final set, but a late run of serves by York's Clara Neal gave her team the cushion it needed to earn the set victory 25-20 and win the match 3-0 over Hazleton.

Sabrina Simmons lead the York team with 10 kills in the match with outstanding play from Jasmine Berry in the form of  five kills, 15 assists and seven serves for aces.

Hazleton was led offensively by freshman Hailey Trasacco (Hamdon, Ct.) with three kills. Sophomore Usgal Zandanbal chipped in with one kill, three service aces, and nine digs, while junior Miranda Dunne (Montrose, Pa.) had one kill, two aces and eight digs.

Match 2: Penn State Hazleton 0, Penn State Mont Alto 3

The Lady Lions fortunes did not improve following a well played outing in match number one. Mont Alto's front line attack from Kelsey Wetzel and Becca Scott had the Hazleton squad on defense the entire match leading to wire to wire victories in each of the three sets for the visiting team from Mont Alto. Following a 13-3 start to set one, the Lions responded with an 8-3 run of their own, but failed to side-out their opponent and dropped set one 25-14. Mont Alto would go on to win convincingly in sets two and three by scores of 25-5 and 25-7. The Hazleton squad would serve just 13 times combined in the final two frames en route to the 3-0 defeat.

Mont Alto was led by attackers Kelsey Wetzel with 13 kills and Becca Scott with 10 kills to her credit. Setter Jenny Halterman distributed 27 assists in the match while Alexis Smith added four kills and six service aces.

Hazleton attackers combined for just three kills in match number two, supplied by Tina Beiland, Hailey Trassaco, and sophomore Jessenia Wright (Brooklyn, Ny.). Beiland added 9 digs while Miranda Dunne served up two assists and eight digs respectively.

Next up: The Lady Lions are back on the court on Sunday, September 20 as they head to Penn State Lehigh Valley for another double-header matchup. Hazleton will face a pair of conference opponents in the form of Penn State Schuylkill and Penn State Brandywine beginning at 12:00 noon tomorrow.