READING, Pa. (October 7) - On Wednesday evening, the Alvernia University women's volleyball team came from behind to reverse sweep Widener University, 3-2, in their third conference match of the season. The Golden Wolves found themselves down, with the Pride using a steady attack to take set one, 19-25. In set two, the Pride took a big lead early on, but the Golden Wolves battled back to come within two late. However, Widener finished the set 21-25 to take a commanding two-set lead on the road. Alvernia showed resilience despite being down two sets at home and used a late rally to earn a 25-19 win. The momentum slowly started to shift in favor of Alvernia, and the Golden Wolves took advantage of the home crowd to pull off a 25-21 set-four win and force a fifth and final set. Alvernia got out to a quick 5-2 lead, but the Pride came roaring back to grab a 7-5 advantage. Widener slowly started to pull away late and found themselves up 10-7 with only five points to go. However, the Golden Wolves used an 8-3 run to cap off the reverse sweep with a 15-13 fifth-set win.
How It Happened
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In set one, Alvernia jumped out to a 7-4 lead behind kills from Julia Lassandro, Caroline Buggy, and Zoe Velez. However, the Pride used a 7-3 run of their own to capture an 11-10 advantage. The Pride continued to play sound volleyball and used a 10-5 run to gain a 21-15 lead late. Despite trading points late, the Pride took set one, 25-19.
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In set two, Widener picked up an early 6-3 lead. Consistent offense from the Pride forced problems for the Golden Wolves, and Alvernia found themselves trailing 13-7. However, using points from Allison Wolf and Zoe Velez, the Golden Wolves fought back to cut the deficit to 17-13. Alvernia used Velez's two kills to come within 20-18, but errors plagued the Golden Wolves late, and Widener took the 25-21 win to hold a two-set lead.
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The third set was competitive throughout as both teams exchanged points and rallies, tied at 10-10, with contributions from Casey Treude, Olivia Rohrbaugh, Wolf, and Velez. The Golden Wolves kept their foot on the gas and propelled themselves to a 16-13 advantage at the halfway point. Widener didn't go away quietly and used a small 5-3 run to cut the Alvernia lead to 19-18. However, a 6-1 run behind Lassandro's two kills gave the Golden Wolves the 25-19 set-three win to keep the match alive.
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Seeing the momentum shift heading into set four, Alvernia got out to a big 9-3 lead with points from Wolf and Velez. The Pride didn't go away, using a 10-5 run to cut the Alvernia lead to 14-13. Following a timeout, Widener's 4-1 run gave them the 17-15 lead. However, Alvernia did not waver in their approach and took advantage of some Pride errors, along with kills from Velez and Treude, to grab a hold of a 24-19 lead. Widener would score back-to-back points, but Wolf closed out the set with a kill to win 25-21 and force a fifth and final set.
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Velez continued her strong day and tallied three kills in the 5-2 run to begin set five. However, a 5-0 run from the Pride shifted the momentum back in their direction with a 7-5 lead. Treude and a Pride error tied the set back up at seven-all. But another 3-0 run from Widener silenced the crowd with a late 10-7 lead. Alvernia remained calm and used a Melina Stinsky ace and a Treude kill, along with one Pride error, to tie the set at 10-10. Widener got shaky late, and three errors with a Wolf kill gave Alvernia the 14-12 advantage. Despite an Alvernia service error to make it 14-13, the Golden Wolves welcomed a Pride service error of their own to cap off the reverse sweep with a 15-13 win.
Inside the Box Score
What's Up Next
Alvernia will take on conference rival Albright on Tuesday, October 13, at 7:00 p.m.
