CALIFORNIA, PA – The IUP women's volleyball team was swept by California (PA) in three sets on Saturday afternoon on the road.
 
The Vulcans, now 21-7 overall and 13-4 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), won the three sets with scores of 25-14, 25-17 and 25-20.
 
IUP was led offensively by Lauren Hester (State College, Pa. /State College), who had six kills to go along with three service aces. Lily McWilliams (Rockville, Md./Thomas Sprigg Wootton) and Elizabeth Sova (Myerstown, Pa. /ELCO) each added four kills, with Sova getting three block assists.
 
The Crimson Hawks kept the opening set close, trailing just 10-8 with the help of some mistakes by Cal. The Vulcans then scored nine of the next 11 points to go on top 19-10 before ultimately winning the first set by 11.
 
The second set was again close in the early going, with the Crimson Hawk trailing 9-8. An 8-2 run by the Vulcans helped widen to the gap to 17-10 as they held on for the eight-point set two win. IUP flipped the script in the third set, coming out strong to take an early 6-2 lead. However, the Vulcans fired back by scoring seven of the next eight points to take a 9-7 advantage and later using runs of 5-0 and 3-0 to take the third set by five points.
 
The Crimson Hawks fall to 9-15 overall on the season and 5-12 in the PSAC West. Five matches are left in the season, starting next Tuesday at home against Clarion.