BUENA VISTA, Va. – Penn State Harrisburg hit the road for the final time this season when the ladies traveled to Southern Virginia on Saturday, Oct. 26 for their penultimate tri-match of 2013. By day's end, however, the Lions were more than happy to come home as they fell to the hosts in straight sets before dropping their second 3-0 decision of the day to Roanoke in the nightcap.
The Lions hung with Southern Virginia in the first set and actually jumped out to a 10-7 lead. From there, the home team went on a 7-0 run to take command of the set and the match. The Blue & White fell 25-21 in the first game and a slow start kept the ladies from ever getting into the second set as they eventually fell 25-5. Southern Virginia won the match thanks to a 25-10 decision in the third and final set.
Junior Erin Goodyear (Boiling Springs, Pa. / Boiling Springs) played well against the Knights, racking up a game-high 16 digs, defensively. Offensively, senior Chidere Igwe (West Orange, N.J. / West Orange) and sophomores Olivia Umoren (Quincy, Mass. / North Quincy) and Kiara Carter (Bronx, N.Y. / Milton Hershey) each recorded a team-best four kills. Senior Elizabeth Findley (New Providence, Pa. / Solanco) and sophomore Katie Shek (Old Bridge, N.J. / Old Bridge), the team's setters, combined for ten of the Lions' 15 assists.
The Blue & White's second outing against Roanoke saw the team sandwich a strong second set between two 25-12 defeats. The Lions led early at 5-3 in set number one and kept the score close until midway through the timeframe before the Maroons scored the final five points to take a 1-0 advantage into the second set. The middle game was a different story as it was a back-and-forth affair in its entirety. A Shek service ace put Penn State Harrisburg up 7-3 and an Igwe kill preserved the lead at 15-9 a few points later. The ladies fell behind for the first time at 17-16 but they battled back and reclaimed the advantage at 21-19 when Umoren and Carter combined for a block of a Roanoke attempt at the net. Leading 25-24 late in the set, the Lions needed just one point to clinch the win but the Maroons reeled off the game's last three points and used the 27-25 decision to go up 2-0 overall. Roanoke jumped out to a 10-2 advantage in the deciding set and never looked back, taking the set and match thanks to a 25-12 victory.
Igwe's team-high eight kills against the Maroons accounted for a third of the team's 24 total. Freshman Marion Chlipala (Cape Coral, Fla. / Oasis Charter) followed closely behind her with seven kills while Umoren and Carter added three apiece. Goodyear again led the way defensively, this time with eight digs while sophomore Melissa Ganz (Weston, Fla. / Cypress Bay) pitched in with six of her own. Shek assisted on ten points while Findley racked up nine assists in match number two.
The pair of losses dropped Penn State Harrisburg to 5-22 on the season while the setback to Southern Virginia kept the Lions winless in Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) play (0-6). The ladies will return to the friendly confines of the Capital Union Building for the squad's final two dates of the 2013 campaign. Penn State Harrisburg hosts another CAC opponent in York (Pa.) in the team's next outing on Halloween night, Oct. 31.