WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Penn State Harrisburg's women's volleyball team split a pair of contests in tri-match action at King's College on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 30. The Lions dropped a 3-1 decision to former conference foe Morrisville in their opener before bouncing back to defeat the hosts by the same score in their final match. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Penn State Harrisburg (7-8) fell to Morrisville (7-10) by set scores of 25-20, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19 in a competitive match in the the team's first outing on Saturday before responding with a 3-1 win over King's by set scores of 26-24, 25-18, 21-25, 25-16 in the final matchup of the day. 

After dropping the first two sets to begin the match with Morrisville, the Lions erupted out of the gate in the third set and used a crucial 13-0 spurt during a Katie Richardson service run to take control. The Mustangs crawled back into it and cut the deficit to four in the final stages but Penn State Harrisburg got key blocks from Hannah DeGregory and Amoi Willis to help put the finishing touches on the set victory. 

The Lions fell behind Morrisville in the fourth set before using a 4-0 run capped by a Tori Henderson kill late in the game to make things interesting but ultimately could not overcome the deficit in the afternoon's first match. 

Penn State Harrisburg answered with a four-set victory over King's in the team's second match that saw the Lions outlast the home team in a tightly-contested opening set. With the score tied at 24-24, DeGregory came through in crunch time and recorded back-to-back kills off Richardson feeds to clinch the win. 

The visitors controlled much of the second set before scoring six of the final eight points that included four combined kills from DeGregory and Camryn Wettstone that gave Penn State Harrisburg a cushion heading into the third game. 

Trailing by as many as 11 points in the third set, the Lions put together a comeback push that came up just short. That momentum proved handy in the fourth set, however, as the visitors got out to a 9-4 advantage and held off a King's spurt at the midway point before reeling off nine of the final 11 points to seal the overall victory and earn the tri-match split. 

NOTABLES

- DeGregory racked up a career-high 18 kills in the win over King's. Wettstone added 13 and Willis chipped in with 11. 

- Richardson assisted on 39 points and added nine digs in the second match.

- Julia Choe managed 22 digs and three service aces in the final contest. 

- Kate Bukowski recorded a dozen digs and four service aces in the win over the Monarchs.

- DeGregory tallied a team-high 13 kills in the opening match. Wettstone added 11.

- Richardson racked up 32 assists, 11 digs, and three service aces against Morrisville. 

- Choe finished with 24 digs in the first outing.

WHO'S NEXT?

The Lions open conference play when they travel to Lancaster Bible for their first United East contest of the season on Wednesday night. 

STAY CONNECTED 

Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Threads, and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.