Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

INDIANA, PA - Elizabeth Sova (Myerstown, Pa. /ELCO) had 15 kills while Ericka Lentz (Reading/Holy Name) added 13 and Sarah Alman (Indiana/Indiana) tallied 60 assists as IUP won a pair of games on the first day of the Crimson Hawk Invitational presented by Hampton Inn on Friday at the Kovalchick Complex. IUP defeated both Le Moyne and Coker in three sets, notching the two season opening victories.

The Crimson Hawks jumped on top early in the first set against Le Moyne, taking a 9-3 lead on the strength of a pair of service aces from Sova. Le Moyne rallied to cut IUP's lead to 11-10 and kept it close until the Crimson Hawks rattled off 10 of 13 points to take a 22-14 advantage. The two teams would trade points until Sova put the set away off an assist from Alman.

It was Le Moyne taking charge early in the second set, using a 4-0 run to take an 8-7 lead. After trading points, the Crimson Hawks capitalized on a few errors by the Dolphins, along with a well-timed kill by Ellen Fordon (Chicago, IL/Lincoln-Way East) and ace from Lauren Hester (State College, Pa. /State College) to take a 16-13 lead. IUP kept up the pressure by ending the match on a 9-4 run, getting kills from Kelly Barnes (Inver Grove Heights, MN/Simley), Lentz and Alman, along with another ace by Sova to finish off the set.

The Crimson Hawks allowed Le Moyne to hang around again in the third set, with the Dolphins scoring three of four points to tie the game at 9-9. IUP then went on a huge run, jumpstarted by a pair of aces from Hester, along with kills by Fordon, Sova and Lentz. The Crimson Hawks scored the set's final seven points for an easy 25-12 victory. IUP took the first two sets by identical scores of 25-17.

The Crimson Hawks would pick up where they left off in the evening, jumping all over Coker from the opening serve. IUP raced out to a 6-3 lead in the first set thanks to kills from Morgan Cerveny (Richfield, OH/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) and Lentz and an ace from Hester.

IUP would build its lead to as much as eight midway through the set, but a 9-3 Cobra run would shrink the Crimson Hawks lead to just three at 17-15. Coker would cut the deficit to just one moments later, but a Cerveny kill and ace from Aubree Frye (Indiana/Indiana) sparked a 6-3 IUP run to close out the first.

After five straight Coker points to start the second set forced an IUP timeout, the Crimson Hawks began to chip away at the lead, as Frye, Lentz and Alman all tallied kills to trim the deficit to just three. Trailing 10-5 just minutes later, IUP would erupt for seven consecutive points highlighted by kills from Sova and Fordon. The Crimson Hawks were unable to pull away however, as they found themselves trailing 28-27 late in the set.

In need of a big play, Hester answered the call with a kill to knot the set at 28-28. After a Coker error gave the Crimson Hawks a one-point lead, Hester polished off the victory with a beautiful service ace.

The third set was back and fourth from the beginning, with the largest early lead being three when IUP went on top 4-1. Coker fought back to tie the game at 6-6 and then took a 9-8 lead before the Crimson Hawks used a 4-0 run, getting kills from Frye and Sova, to take a 13-11 advantage. After two more points from Coker tied it again, IUP ran off six of the next seven points, including an ace by Lisa Kissell (Greensburg, Pa. /Greensburg Salem), to jump on top 19-14.

After Coker cut it to 19-17, IUP put it away by scoring six of the last eight points to take the 25-19 win.

Fordon added 11 kills on the day, while Cerveny and Hester each had 10. Sova had six aces in the two matches with Frye and Hester also adding four apiece. Defensively for the Crimson Hawks, Frye led the way with 23 digs, while Alman had 22 and Barnes had 19. Fordon led the team with six total blocks, Sova added five and Cerveny had four more.

The final day of the invitational concludes on Saturday with six more matches. IUP will face Michigan Tech at 10:30 a.m. and Cedarville at 6:00 p.m.