Volleyball Cruises to 10th Straight Win

October 2, 2011

UNIONTOWN, Pa. - Penn State Fayette cruised to a win on Sunday, sweeping Penn State New Kensington, 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-9) in a PSUAC match. The win marks the Roaring Lions' 10th straight win of the season, and improves them to 17-3, 9-0 in the PSUAC. Fayette also extended their conference winning streak to 21 consecutive triumphs dating back to last season.

The Roaring Lions dominated the match, tallying 42 kills while hitting .419. In the third set alone, Fayette hit an astounding .714, notching 15 kills in 21 attacks. The Roaring Lions also served up 10 aces, led by sophomore Marney Hillen (Connellsville, Pa.) with three.

Junior Leah Ambrosini (Connellsville, Pa.) led Fayette with 13 kills while hitting a season-high .750. Freshman Samantha Helmantoler (Monongahela, Pa.) added seven kills and three digs, while sophomore Caitlin Fidel (Perryopolis, Pa.) tallied five kills. Freshman Janelle Cooper (Mount Braddock, Pa.) notched four kills and four digs and freshman Emily Caldwell (Belle Vernon, Pa.) added four kills for the balanced Roaring Lions offensive attack.

Senior Katie Sleasman (Connellsville, Pa.) had a game-high 24 assists and four digs, while freshman Emily Konter (Brownsville, Pa.) added 11 assists, four digs and two aces.

Ambrosini led off set one with a kill, but New Kensington answered with two straight points to take an early lead. A Lady Lions service error followed by a Cooper ace put the Roaring Lions back on top, 3-2 until a Fayette attack error tied the score at three apiece. Fayette would take the lead on the next rally, as Helmantoler set down a kill, before Ambrosini notched an ace and Caldwell added her first kill of the day to make it 6-3. After a Fayette attack error, Sleasman, Caldwell and Fidel each notched kills to make it 9-4. After a New Kensington point, Ambrosini and Cooper made it 11-5 with kills. New Kensington would take two of the next three points, as Fayette sandwiched two errors around a Cooper kill. Cooper answered with another kill and a block, assisted by Helmantoler to give the Roaring Lions a 14-7 advantage. A Fayette error preceded three straight points for the Roaring Lions, as Ambrosini and Helmantoler tallied kills. Following a New Kensington point that made it 17-9, Fayette would take eight of the final 11 points. Ambrosini notched a kill before errors on the Lady Lions and Fayette made it 19-10. Caldwell tallied another kill, followed by each team committing an error. Fidel set down a kill to make it 22-11, and errors on each team made it 23-12. A Helmantoler kill preceded a New Kensington error, as Fayette rolled to a first set victory, 25-12.

Fayette started set two strong, jumping out to a 10-1 advantage. Konter tallied a kill and Hillen an ace before a service error on the Roaring Lions made it 2-1. However, Fayette would go on an 8-0 run, including kills from Ambrosini and freshman Katlyn Salisbury (Madison, Pa.), two aces from Konter, and a block by freshman Marisa Wallace (Smithfield, Pa.) and Salisbury. New Kensington would answer with four straight points, including two kills, to cut the lead to 10-5. The Roaring Lions went back to Ambrosini, as she notched a kill both before and after a Wallace ace to make it 13-5. New Kensington would then make a run, outscoring Fayette 8-3 over the next 11 points, including two kills and two blocks. Only sophomore Victoria Kearns (Uniontown, Pa.) could notch a kill during the stretch, pushing a ball deep to the back corner. The run cut Fayette's lead to three, 16-13, but the Lady Lions would come no closer. Fayette strung together three straight points on the strength of kills by Caldwell, started by a nice dig from freshman Abbey Tirpak (California, Pa.), and sophomore Alaina Weiss (Monongahela, Pa.) to the tune of a 19-13 advantage. A New Kensington kill would be their last point, as the Roaring Lions took the final six points of the set, including two aces and a kill from Hillen, a kill from Wallace and two kills from Ambrosini to finish set two, 25-14.

The Roaring Lions started set three exactly as they had set one, with a kill from Ambrosini. Fidel added a kill and a Sleasman ace made it 3-0 before New Kensington would get on the board with a kill. Following a Lady Lions error, Salisbury would add a kill as Fayette took an early 5-1 lead. Two New Kensington kills would cut Fayette's lead in half, but the Lady Lions could not capitalize as they committed two errors to make it 7-3. Another New Kensington kill preceded kills from Helmantoler and Sleasman, but a Fayette net violation made it 9-5. Helmantoler would answer with a kill to start the Roaring Lions' 16-4 run that would end the match. A New Kensington error and a Kearns ace forced a Lady Lions timeout, but Fidel would make it 13-5 with a kill. New Kensington surrounded back-to-back kills by Helmantoler with points of their own to make it 15-7, but Ambrosini would help the Roaring Lions with three kills over the next four Fayette points, making it 19-7. Fayette gave New Kensington their final two points on errors, sandwiched around Fidel's final kill of the match, as Fayette took a 20-9 lead. Cooper and Salisbury added kills, and two New Kensington errors set-up Ambrosini's ace to end the set, and the match, 25-9.

Fayette takes a five day break before returning to action on Saturday, Oct. 8 in a quad match at Penn State Hazleton. The Roaring Lions will square off with Penn College at 2:00 p.m. and Penn State Hazleton at 3:30 p.m. Fayette swept Penn College earlier this season in the Penn State Beaver/USCAA Volleyball Classic, and has beaten the Wildcats each of the last two seasons, including twice in the PSUAC semifinals. It will be the Roaring Lions first meeting with Hazleton this season, as Fayette swept the Lady Lions, 3-0 last season.