BOX SCORE

Frederick, Md. (Sept. 11, 2012) - Alvernia University (3-5, 1-1) dropped the opening set by the narrowest of margins, 25-23, then rallied with three straight wins for a 3-1 win over Hood College (2-3, 0-1) Tuesday evening in Commonwealth Conference volleyball action at BB&T Arena.

The Crusaders took a 23-22 lead late in the first set on a kill from Liz Newman (Fleetwood, Pa./Brandywine Heights), but Hood ran off three straight points for the 25-23 win.  They got to 23 first again in the second set--this time with a 23-16 lead--and saw Hood cut it down to 23-21 before kills from Sarah Poplowski (Glenolden, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy) and Brittany Lantz (New Holland, Pa./Garden Spot) ended the set for the Crusaders, 25-22.

Alvernia needed another strong finish scoring five of the last six points in the third set for a 25-21 win then closed the match with a 25-12 win in the fourth set.

Last season the Crusaders had a player with 14 or more kills in a match just once.  Tuesday Lantz and Kristen Rupp (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) had 16 kills each.  Five different players had double-digit digs led by Toni Maurer (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh).

The Crusaders travel to Lancaster Bible College on Thursday for a non-conference match.

Alvernia 3, Hood 1