by Casey Burinskas

PITTSBURGH – The Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team was on the road Thursday night to take on non-conference opponent Chatham University, and the Lions came out with a 3-1 win.

Penn State Altoona (4-8) took the opening set 25-22, before Chatham (8-2) answered with a 25-20 victory in the second set. But the Lions fought for wins in each of the next two sets, winning them by scores of 25-22 and 25-23 to take the match in four.

Maggie Brewer (NuMine, PA/West Shamokin) put up a match-high 15 points for Penn State Altoona with 14 kills and two block assists. Lia Simanski (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) scored 12.5 points on 11 kills, one service ace, and one block assist, and Ella Hadley (Spring Mills, PA/Penns Valley) had 12 points on nine kills and three aces. Makiya Mack (Philipsburg, PA/West Branch) chipped in 6.5 points on six kills and a block assist.

Julia Emel (Woodward, PA/Penns Valley) had a match-leading 25 assists, and Marlo Mellish (Kittanning, PA/Armstrong) recorded 15 assists.

Brianna Woodring (Greencastle, PA/Greencastle-Antrim) led the Lions in digs with 26. Simanski totaled 23 digs, Hadley notched 17 digs, and Jayden Ulmer (Williamsport, PA/Williamsport) helped the defensive effort with two solo blocks and two block assists.

In a tight first set, both teams traded points early, with Chatham grabbing a 3-1 lead before kills from Simanski and Hadley brought Altoona ahead 6-5. Midway through the set, the Lions found their rhythm during a 6-1 run, sparked by kills from Mack, Hadley, Brewer, and Simanski to make it 15-11. Chatham responded with a run to close the gap, but strong defensive play and kills kept the Lions in front. Simanski continued to lead the offense with several kills, with Emel setting up multiple kills to maintain the lead for the Lions. Kills by Mack and Simanski brought the Lions to set point, and Ulmer delivered the final kill of the set from Emel to secure the 25-22 win.

The second set began with early back-and-forth action, as kills from Brewer and Simanski helped Altoona gain a slight lead at 7-3. A series of attack errors by Chatham allowed the Lions to build that early lead, but the Cougars quickly recovered and took the lead at 9-8 following a kill and an ace by sparking their offense to come alive. The Cougars extended the lead to 13-9, thriving on kills and an Altoona attack error. Although Brewer responded with another kill, the Lions struggled to regain momentum during the middle portion of the set. Emel and Mellish contributed by setting up kills, and a block by Ulmer allowed for the set to be tied back up at 18-18. But, despite its efforts, Altoona ultimately fell in the second set with a score of 25-20. 

Chatham came out aggressive in the third set and jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but Altoona got on the board with a kill from Hadley, followed by back-to-back kills from Brewer to pull the score up to 7-3. The Lions continued to chip away with Brewer keeping a steady performance at the net, while Simanski added a kill and Jenna Dunn (Clarion, PA/Clarion-Limestone) served an ace to make it 8-5. After a few service errors on both sides, Altoona's defense disrupted the Chatham offense. A pair of blocks and forced errors allowed the Lions to tie the set at 19-19 after back-to-back errors from the Cougars. Johanna Heckman (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) came through with a kill, followed by a kill point from Hadley to make it 24-21. Brewer delivered a final kill which allowed Altoona to walk away with a 25-22 win in the third set. 

The Lions opened the fourth set strong with an attack error from Chatham, followed by a kill from Mack and a Hadley service ace to push Altoona ahead 3-1. But Chatham responded with a quick run to take a 4-3 lead. The two sides traded points throughout the middle of the set, with Altoona gaining control of the lead after kills from Brewer and a service ace by Mellish that built a 17-14 advantage. Chatham fought back, trying to make up ground on Altoona errors to cut the lead to one at 18-17. With the score tied 20-20, an error by the Cougars and a service ace from Hadley gave the Lions a 22-20 lead. Late kills from Hadley and Simanski, along with a Chatham attack error, brought Altoona the win, closing out the set 25-23 to win the match 3-1.

Next, the Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team will be back on the court this Saturday, September 27 when the Lions travel to Wilkes University for a tri-match. Penn State Altoona faces Wilkes at 12 p.m., then plays Bard College at 2 p.m.