Bronxville, NY – The University of Valley Forge Women's Volleyball team took a hike to Bronxville, NY for their second tri-match of the season. The Patriots faced Sarah Lawrence College, losing 0-3 (17-25, 21-25, 22-25) and The King's College, falling 2-3 (22-25, 25-19, 26-28, 25-21, 4-15).
Match One: Valley Forge 0, Sarah Lawrence 3
The Gryphons of Sarah Lawrence College swept the Patriots 3-0, (17-25, 21-25, 22-25) in their first match of the day.
Kaitlyn Hess led the Patriots in kills (6), service aces (3), and blocks (1), while
Hannah Hawryluk led in assists (7), with libero
Jasmine Vargas leading in digs (14). As a team, Valley Forge combined for -.074 hitting percentage, committing 23 detrimental attacking errors out of their 68 total attempts.
Match Two: Valley Forge 2, The King's College 3
After the sweep, it took five sets to determine the second match.
Mariah Straker led the team in service aces (6), as well as hitting a career high of 13 kills in a match.
Kaitlyn Hess collected 13 assists, and 20 digs.
The first set was an exciting back and forth game between the Patriots and Lions, swapping turns at the service line. The Patriots held a single point lead at 12-11 before the Lions would pounce at the opportunity to make a run from two kills and two Patriot errors to set the score to 12-15. However, the Patriots would retaliate and capitalize off of five Lion attacking errors, a service error, and a kill from
Kaitlyn Hess. With the score sitting at 19-16, each team would attempt a comfortable advantage, but with two service aces from the Lions and a Patriot service error, the Lions would gain momentum and close out the first match 25-22.
With dropping the first, the Patriots would not allow any significant chances for the Lions. Valley Forge earned an early 4-1 lead with help from
Mariah Straker who produced a service ace and a kill. The Patriots were evident at the net as five kills from
Kaitlyn Hess (2),
Mariah Straker (2) and
Chanda Carson (1) would allow the Patriots to separate themselves from the Lions 17-13. Valley Forge would then gather five more kills from
Alexandra Davila (1),
Kimberly Ramcharitar (1), and
Mariah Straker (3) to end the set 25-19.
Tied at a piece each, set three would be competitive as both teams were determined. With the scoreboard at 7-7, the Patriots found help from four Lion errors, a kill from
Kaitlyn Hess, and a service ace from
Hannah Hawryluk, making the score 12-8. The Lions then went on a five-point run, which prompted the Patriots to respond with a four-point comeback setting the scoreboard to 16-13 in favor of Valley Forge.
Hannah Hawryluk and
Mariah Straker would both provide a kill to gain an 18-15 advantage. The Patriots continued to press and found themselves just one point away from a win. However, the Lions would get hot and dish out three kills to tie the set 25-25. The Patriots were not able to hang on as the Lions remained dominate in the front row, concluding the third set 28-26.
With the match at jeopardy, the Patriots controlled most of the fourth set. At 6-6, Valley Forge would gain a confident 11-6 lead. The Lions would commit a trio of errors and
Kaitlyn Hess would add to her kills, creating a six-point lead for a 15-9 score. The Lions committed five attacking errors late in the set to lose sight of the win as the Patriots posted a 25-21 score to tie the match 2-2.
Entering the fifth and final set of the afternoon, Valley Forge struggled to gather poise as the Lions would make it quick only allowing four points for the Patriots, taking the set 15-4 and shutting out Valley Forge 3-2.
As a team, the Patriots earned a .045 attacking percentage with 31 kills out of 112 attempts. In addition, they collected a total of 72 digs, 14 aces, and 26 assists.
Valley Forge will be back in action for their home opener against the Nittany Lions of Penn State Brandywine on Monday, September 16
th, at 7 p.m.
