Wolfpack Lose Two in Home Tri-Match

YOUNGWOOD, Pa. - The Westmoreland County Community College volleyball played strong opening sets in both ends of their tri-match Saturday, but were unable to pull those out and went on to fall 3-0 to both Penn Highlands and Kent State-Tuscarawas.

In the first match against Penn Highlands, the Wolfpack used runs of six and five straight points to build a 17-8 lead and still held a 21-16 lead late in the set. The Black Bears stormed back with five straight and seven of the next eight points to take a 23-22 lead. Westmoreland bounced back with a pair of points and was serving for the match at 24-23. But Penn Highlands rallied with the final three points to escape with a 26-24 win in the opening set.

The Black Bears used the momentum from that win to roll to 25-13, 25-12 wins in the final two sets and take home the win. For the Wolfpack in the setback, Samantha Duncan had five kills and four aces, while Jessica Williams had five kills and three blocks and Haley Maines recorded three kills, three digs and two aces. In addition, Morgan Brown passed off eight assists, Ashley Bish had six digs and Anna Rubino totaled four digs and two aces.

The middle match of the day saw Kent State-Tuscarawas sweep Penn Highlands 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-8). In the final match of the afternoon, two early aces from Brown and one from Williams helped the Wolfpack stay close against Kent State. The Eagles used runs of five and four points to take control, but Westmoreland mounted a threat late, going on a 6-1 run to trim the Tuscarawas lead to 23-19 before the visitors scored the final two points of the set to earn the 25-19 win.

After the tough first set loss, the Wolfpack could not regain the momentum and the Eagles scored 25-11 wins in the second and third sets to complete the win. Maines was the top hitter with seven kills, while Williams put away six and added three blocks. Brown and Duncan both had five assists and Brown matched Bish with five digs.

The Wolfpack are now off until March 18 when they will travel to Potomac State for two matches, with the first to begin at 5:30 pm.