by Casey Burinskas

PITTSBURGH – The Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team took on non-conference opponent Chatham University on Tuesday night, and the Cougars dealt the Lions a 3-0 loss.

Chatham (4-8) won in straight sets by scores of 25-21, 27-25, and 25-21 to drop Penn State Altoona (9-9).

Ella Hadley (Spring Mills, PA/Penns Valley) had a team-high 12 points for Penn State Altoona on 12 kills while adding 11 digs. Makenna Port (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) and Lia Simanski (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) had 5.5 points each, both finishing with five kills and a block assist.

Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) had five points on three kills, two block assists, and a service ace, and Jadeyn Price (Altoona, PA/Altoona) recorded 4.5 points on four kills and a block assist.

Madelyn Rockwell (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) totaled 15 assists with nine digs, and Julia Emel (Woodward, PA/Penns Valley) had 11 assists and 11 digs.

Anna Batrus (Altoona, PA/Altoona) contributed a team-high 12 digs.

In the first set, the Lions struck their first point with a kill from Hadley. Slowly, the Cougars started to gain a modest lead, but a quick response from Maggie Brewer (NuMine, PA/West Shamokin) came in with a kill, followed by a service ace from Myers. Later in the set, Hadley landed another kill, followed by a second one from Myers, and two points from Port helped bring the Lions back to within one, 17-16, of Chatham's lead. Hadley added two more kills late in the set, but Chatham won the first set, 25-21.

Coming into the second, the Lions struck first and took an early lead, 3-2, including a kill from Brewer. Kills poured in from Port and Hadley, as Altoona took an 8-5 advantage. Two kills from Price and multiple Chatham attack errors helped place Altoona ahead by five, 15-10, with victory in sight, but the Cougars came back to tie the set late. With the score tied at 24-24, a kill from Simanski brought the Lions ahead by one. But, in the end, Chatham was able to use three Altoona errors to pick up their second set by a score of 27-25.

With Altoona hoping for a comeback in the third set, the Cougars pulled ahead first before a kill from Myers and an attack error tied the score, 2-2. But the Cougars were strong in the third set and got out to a seven-point lead, 18-11. Kills from Simanski, Price, and Hadley helped Altoona stay in the game, bringing the Lions back to within two, 22-20. But ultimately, Chatham was able to hold its lead over Altoona for the remainder of the third set, winning it by a final score of 25-21 to blank the Lions in the match.

Next up, the Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team will begin its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference schedule on the road next Tuesday, October 8, when the Lions will face off against Pitt-Greensburg at 7 p.m.