Box Score

INDIANA, PA - Ericka Lentz (Reading/Holy Name) accounted for eight kills and three blocks but the Crimson Hawks couldn't rebound from a 29-27 set one defeat as IUP fell to Wheeling Jesuit 3-0 in non-conference women's volleyball action on Tuesday night at the Kovalchick Complex.

After the extended back-and-forth first set, IUP dropped set two 25-14 and set three 25-19.

Points would come in bunches at the beginning of the opening game, as Wheeling Jesuit (16-1) scored three straight to take a 4-2 lead. The Crimson Hawks came right back with five consecutive points, capitalizing on Cardinals errors to go on top 7-4. A 6-2 run by Wheeling stopped the IUP run as the Cardinals went on top 10-9.

After a kill by Morgan Cerveny (Richfield, OH/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) gave IUP a 12-10 lead, Wheeling went on another 6-2 run to take a two-point advantage at 16-14. Back-to-back service aces by Joie Hrapla (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Bishop Canevin) as well as another kill by Cerveny would be a part of a 5-3 IUP run as the Crimson Hawks tied the score at 19-19, before four straight points by the Cardinals put them back on top 23-19.

Megan Schneider then started the next run for the Crimson Hawks, first scoring a kill off an assist from Sarah Alman (Indiana/Indiana), then serving four straight points to lead IUP to a 24-23 lead. IUP would have four chances to put it away, but the Cardinals kept extending the set before taking the 29-27 win. In all, there were 18 tie scores and nine lead changes in the marathon set.

The Crimson Hawks (13-4) used a four consecutive points in the second set to take an early 5-4 lead but the Cardinals took control of the set, scoring nine straight points to go on top 13-5. After a pair of points by IUP, the Cardinals scored six of the next eight points and kept chipping away to earn the 11-point set two win.

The third set also contained streaks by both teams as Wheeling went up 3-1 before IUP tied it two points later. A pair points by both sides made it a 5-5 game before Wheeling reeled of three straight and seven of the next 10 to take a 12-8 lead.

The Crimson Hawks narrowed the gap back to two after a kill by Lentz, but both teams responded by trading points back and forth and after a kill by Schneider, Wheeling still held the lead at 15-13.

The Cardinals then extended their lead to six with four consecutive points and after IUP brought its deficit back down to four at 21-17, Wheeling scored four of the last six to take the set and the match.

Schneider finished with five kills on eight attacks, adding a service ace. Cerveny added six kills while Alman notched 19 assists. Defensively, Hrapla totaled 21 digs while Alman had 10 and Cerveny had four total blocks.

The Crimson Hawks are back in action this weekend as they head up I-79 to face Edinboro on Friday night and Gannon on Saturday afternoon.