Volleyball wraps up week with three wins in conference play

Hazleton, Pa. - The Nittany Lions finished up a stellar week on Thursday night with a sweep over Penn State Scranton. Hazleton earned wins against Penn State Mont Alto, Schuylkill and Scranton to go 3-0 and place themselves atop the eastern division standings. 

Saturday, October 5 - Penn State Hazleton 3, Penn State Mont Alto 0 - Final

Hazleton took advantage of 26 hitting errors from Mont Alto and poured on 37 kills and 10 service aces in three sets to secure the win on Saturday. Sydney Mack led the Hazleton attack with 17 kills, four of which came in the closing moments of set three when the Lions trailed Mont Alto 24-21. Hazleton reeled off five straight points to complete the comeback with second year Sophia Del Vacchio feeding Mack on four occasions and adding in a service ace for good measure to earn the win. Del Vacchio finished the game with 30 assists, four kills and two aces to go along with 10 digs, while second year Kaytlin Kelley added five kills to help put the Lions on top by scores of 25-19, 25-23 and 26-24.

Monday, October 7 - Penn State Schuylkill 0, Penn State Hazleton 3 - Final

Despite topping Schuylkill in straight sets several weeks ago, the local rival put up quite the fight on Monday night. Schuylkill led Hazleton 13-10 midway through set one before a flurry of service aces from first year Claire Riera-Gomez and three kills by Sydney Mack put the Lions back in the driver seat and Hazleton went on to win the first frame 25-19. Early in set two Schuylkill led the way and hung around for the entire set, making a late run to get within four points of the Lions. Schuylkill scored four straight and five of six points to gain momentum but a costly hitting error with the score at 24-20 in favor of Hazleton spelled defeat for the visitors in set two. 

Schuylkill was neck and neck with Hazleton early on in set three, and took a 13-9 advantage midway through the final set. It took two big runs by the Hazleton squad to close out the contest. The first of which came behind the serve of Riera-Gomez who reeled off four straight points that saw Kelley and Mack put away kills and moments later with Del Vacchio behind the line, Hazleton racked up seven straight points. There Del Vacchio came up big with three service aces and three assists to put Hazleton up for good. The Lions went on to win 11 of 12 points to close out the match with a 25-16 win.

Scores were close in this one but in the end, Hazleton prevailed with 45 kills on the night, 25 coming off the attack of Sydney Mack. Riera-Gomez and second year Sarah Ballek added six kills each with Kaytlin Kelley notching five of her own. Del Vacchio served up seven aces in the win with 39 assists to her credit while second year Nora Jones led the squad with 32 digs on the defensive side. 

Thursday, October 10 - Penn State Hazleton 3, Penn State Scranton 0 - Final

Hazleton's final game of the week came on the road at Penn State Scranton. Thursday night's contest came with little drama as the Lions serve was too much for the Scranton squad to handle. Hazleton issued the Scranton squad 39 aces on the evening, including 12 from Nora Jones, seven a piece from second year Nayiara Rodriguez-Maldonado and Del Vacchio and six from first year Ava Giannini. Hazleton would need just 12 kills to finish up their business on Thursday, winning in straight sets by scores of 25-2, 25-3, and 25-4.

The Lions terrific week has their record enhanced 12-9 overall and 8-1 in the PSUAC. One more regular season contest remains and it's a big one. Hazleton will head to Penn State York on Wednesday, October 16 to finish off the season. Should Hazleton come out on top, the Lions will secure the top seed in the PSUAC East.