ARLINGTON, Va. – Penn State Harrisburg led in two of the team's three sets against Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) foe Marymount (Va.) on Wednesday night, Oct. 9. Unfortunately, the Lions were unable to hold those advantages and eventually fell on the road in straight sets by 25-17, 25-23 and 25-16 margins.
The opening set saw the Blue & White keep the score manageable until the midway point when the Saints used a crucial 6-2 run to give them some breathing room thanks to a 15-8 advantage. The Lions twice drew to within five points late in the stanza but never got any closer.
Marymount had a much tougher go of things in the second set. Penn State Harrisburg jumped out to a 6-1 lead that culminated when sophomores Kiara Carter (Bronx, N.Y. / Milton Hershey) and Katie Shek (Old Bridge, N.J. / Old Bridge) turned back a Becca Schroeder attempt at the net. The Saints fought back and took their first lead of the set at 13-12 but the Lions responded and jumped back in front at 21-19 thanks to a Chidere Igwe (West Orange, N.J. / West Orange) kill. Trailing 23-22, the home team burned a timeout that paid off as Marymount scored the set's final three points out of the break, taking the hard-fought game and upping its overall advantage to 2-0.
After falling behind 4-0 in the third set, Penn State Harrisburg chipped away and eventually grabbed its first advantage at 6-5. The Lions eventually took their largest lead of the timeframe at 11-9 during junior Bree Green's (Philadelphia, Pa. / Cardinal Dougherty) service stretch. The Blue & White kept things close before stalling at 15 and the Saints used a 9-1 run to end the game and take the match in straight sets.
Though it came in a losing effort, the ladies played well offensively in the match's second set, racking up 14 kills and just four errors on 35 total attempts. Freshman Marion Chlipala (Cape Coral, Fla. / Oasis Charter) led the team in kills with seven while Igwe pitched in with five of her own. Carter added four and Shek and sophomore Olivia Umoren (Quincy, Mass. / North Quincy) recorded three apiece.
Junior captain Jessica Farabaugh (Palmyra, Pa. / Palmyra Area) was stout defensively and dug out 21 balls. Senior captain Elizabeth Findley (New Providence, Pa. / Solanco) and sophomore Melissa Ganz (Weston, Fla. / Cypress Bay) each dug out eight balls while junior Erin Goodyear (Boiling Springs, Pa. / Boiling Springs) added six digs.
Findley and Shek, the Lions' setters, teamed up to assist on 23 points. Findley recorded 13 assists while Shek chipped in with ten.
The loss dropped Penn State Harrisburg to 4-16 on the year and 0-3 in CAC play. The ladies find themselves in the midst of a seven-game skid and they'll look to regroup and put an end to their recent slide when they travel to Rosemont for tri-match play this weekend. The Lions take on Misericordia in their first matchup on Saturday, Oct. 12 before closing out the event by taking on the host Ravens.