Women’s Volleyball opens AMCC action with tough loss to Alfred State

PITTSBURGH --- Women's Volleyball opened AMCC action with a 3-0 loss to Alfred State College Saturday morning.

The Celtics (6-11, 0-1 AMCC) took the Pioneers (12-5, 2-0 AMCC) to a 33-31 third set.

Back-to-back aces from Rebecca Hess (New Alexandria, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic), two Alfred State attacking errors and a block assist from Paige Keller (Liberty Borough, Pa./South Allegheny HS) and Jorja Sedlar (Brentwood, Pa./PA Leadership Charter School) put Carlow ahead, 6-2, to start the set.

Alfred State tied the game at 6-all and 7-all before more errors plagued the Pioneers, as the Celtics put together a 7-2 run to lead, 14-9.

Although Alfred State slowly chipped away at the lead, Carlow maintained an advantage until the very end. Two kills in a row saw the Pioneers trailing, 23-21, prompting a timeout for the Celtics to regroup.

Following the timeout, an Alfred State service error handed Carlow the 24-21 set point. Two more kills and an ace brought the Pioneers even with the Celtics, and both teams began to battle point for point to claim the win-by-two victory. A replay on a Carlow service ace at 30-29 once again offered Alfred State the chance to respond. A subsequent error tied the score at 30-all, and each team recorded a kill to tie the game at 31.

The Pioneers landed the final two kills to end the set and the match.

Carlow led almost the entire second set as well, ahead 15-9 midway through the game. A kill from Caitlyn Gilman set off a 9-2 run that gave the Pioneers an 18-17 lead. The Celtics tied the game at 18-all, and the teams tied the score and traded leads several times to the end.

Trailing 23-20, Rebecca Hess landed two kills in a row to bring the Celtics within a point of tying the game. Carlow covered its subsequent service error with a kill from Megan Cooper (North Canton, Ohio/Jackson HS), still trailing, 24-23. The Pioneers earned the win after a Carlow error ended the set, 25-23.

Alfred State hit .334 with 14 kills to win the first set, 25-17, and the Pioneers hit .234 on the day.

Rebecca Hess led Carlow with 13 kills and six digs. Emily Hess (New Alexandria, Pa./River Valley HS) contributed 16 assists, while Javonna Perkins (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) and Keller combined for seven of the Celtics' 12 blocks.

Alayna Tomlinson led the Pioneers with a game-high 17 kills, and Racquel Gerstenberger added 11 kills and 10 digs.

The Celtics travel to La Roche University for a 7 p.m. match Oct. 16.