Middletown, Pa (October 28, 2023) - Alvernia University (12-8) recorded wins against Penn State Harrisburg and Penn State Abington en route to a 2-0 sweep in a non-conference women's volleyball tri match Saturday afternoon at Penn State Harrisburg. 

The Golden Wolves took down Abington 25-15, 25-16, 25-15 in the first match of the day and then took down Harrisburg in straight sets, 25-20, 25-21, 25-23 to secure the sweep. 

In the first match against PSU Abington, Alvernia jumped out to a commanding lead early, rattling off a 12-3 run to start the first set. Rachel Sipling recorded five kills during the run, Cierra Roberts tallied a kill and Patricia Falar recorded an ace. 

The Golden Wolves continued to control the set by scoring six of the next nine points in the set to take a 12 point, 18-6 lead. Roberts hammered home two kills, Julianna McGlone tallied another and Jamie Pierce served an ace during the run. 

Abington would respond by tallying nine of the next 13 points to cut the lead to seven, 22-15 but the Golden Wolves bounced back with the final three points of the set after a Roberts kill and Sipling hammered home the set winning kill to take set one 25-15. 

Alvernia got out to another early lead in the second set, this time scoring the first four points but Abington responded with six of the next ten to cut the deficit to two, 8-6. 

The Golden Wolves then tallied seven of the next eight points to extend the lead to eight, 15-7. McGlone, Sipling and Roberts all recorded kills for Alvernia. 

Abington then responded with an 8-3 scoring run to cut the Alvernia lead to just three, 18-15 but the Golden Wolves bounced right back, recording seven of the final eight points to take the second set 25-16. Roberts hammered home the set clinching kill, Kayleigh Kehler and Sipling both tallied kills as well. 

Penn State Abington started out hot in the third set and scored the four of the first five points of the set but the Golden Wolves then turned around and ripped off a 13-3 scoring run to swing the lead in favor of Alvernia, 14-8. Falar recorded three aces during the run, Sipling added one and two kills and Pierce and Roberts both recorded a kill during the run. 

Alvernia then continued to score points, ripping off the next four points but Abington fought back with a 5-2 run of its own to make it a 20-13 game but Alvernia was too much for the Lions as they recorded five of the next seven points to take the third set 25-15 and secure the 3-0 sweep. 

Sipling led the Golden Wolves with 18 kills in the first match, just one kill shy of the three set record, and recorded three aces. Roberts finished with 11 kills, Abigail McGinley led with 14 digs and Falar recorded 19 assists for the Golden Wolves. 

The second match of the day for the Golden Wolves came against Penn State Harrisburg and saw Alvernia get out to an early 8-5 lead in the first set. Roberts and Emma Remaley boh recorded two kills for the Golden Wolves and Sipling and Pierce also tallied a block. 

Harrisburg would then respond with a 5-1 scoring run that saw them grab the lead at 10-9. 

Alvernia tallied the next three points to regain the lead after errors from the Lions and a kill from Sipling but Harrisburg rattled off six of the next eight points to take the lead back at 16-14. 

The Golden Wolves then recorded an 11-4 scoring run that saw them take the first set by a score of 25-20. McGlone hammered home the final kill for the Golden Wolves and Roberts tallied two. 

Harrisburg and Alvernia traded points back and forth early in the second set with the Lions taking a slight, 11-8 advantage. 

The Golden Wolves then responded by ripping off ten straight points to swing the lead in their favor, 18-11. Sipling hammered home two kills, Lindsay Ferguson and Remaley both recorded a kill and McGlone tallied an ace during the run. 

Harrisburg bounced back and cut the Alvernia lead to four, 21-17 but Alvernia recorded four of the final eight points to take the second set by a score of 25-21. 

The Golden Wolves grabbed an 8-6 lead to start the third set before then ripping off four straight to extend the lead to 12-6. 

The Lions responded by scoring four of the next six points to cut the lead to four, 14-10. 

Both teams would trade points back and forth with the Golden Wolves maintaining a five point 18-13 lead but the Lions would then respond with three straight to make it a 18-16 game. 

Alvernia then recorded seven of the next 14 points to secure the 25-23 victory in the third set and clinch the 3-0 sweep. 

Sipling led Alvernia in match two with 14 kills and also added 12 digs. Hailey McDevitt tallied 18 assists, Roberts had seven kills and McGlone recorded 12 digs and an ace. 

The Golden Wolves are back in action on Wednesday when they host Eastern in a MAC Commonwealth matchup at 7:00 PM.