ERIE, PA – Lauren Hester (State College, Pa. /State College) totaled 20 kills and Elizabeth Sova (Myerstown, Pa. /ELCO) added 19 more as the IUP women's volleyball team split a pair of matches on the first day of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference/Mountain East Conference Crossover at Mercyhurst University in Erie on Friday.
 
The Crimson Hawks defeated Notre Dame of Ohio in straight sets early in the afternoon before falling to West Liberty in four sets this evening.
 
Sova had 11 kills against Notre Dame as IUP won 26-24, 25-20 and 25-19. The Crimson Hawks held a 24-16 lead in the opening set before the Falcons reeled off eight straight points to tie the game at 24-24. IUP stopped the bleeding with kills by Katie Miller (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) and Lisa Kissell (Greensburg, Pa. /Greensburg Salem) to get the close opening set win.
 
IUP fell down in the second set 15-10, but slowly worked its way back to within three before finishing the set on a 9-1 run to go on top 2-0. The Crimson Hawks never trailed in the final set, holding a six-point lead late before ultimately taking the match on a kill by Sova.
 
Lindsay Moeller (Troy, Mich./Troy) finished with 22 assists while Miller had 15. Joie Hrapla (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Bishop Canevin) had 13 digs while Sova and Gabrielle Egler (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Obama Academy) each had five block assists.
 
Hester led the way offensively against West Liberty as she finished with 12 kills in the 17-25, 16-25, 28-26, 20-25 loss. She also added 13 digs.
 
IUP trailed 16-15 in the opening set but West Liberty only allowed the Crimson Hawks to score two more points for the first win of the night. The Hilltoppers then jumped out to a 17-9 lead in the second set before ultimately winning by nine.
 
The third set went back and forth with 13 ties and 11 lead changes before the Crimson Hawks finished with a two-point win.  IUP rallied from a 19-16 deficit, tying the score at 21-21 and again at 26-26, scoring the last three points for the victory.
 
The Crimson Hawks took an 8-4 lead in the fourth set, and also held leads of 14-10 and 16-12, but West Liberty fought back to tie the score at 18-18. The Hilltoppers then took a lead at 20-19, scoring seven of the last eight points for their first victory of the season.
 
Lily McWilliams (Rockville, Md./Thomas Sprigg Wootton) had nine kills while Sova had eight. Moeller dished out 22 assists and Miller added 16 while Hrapla finished with 28 digs.
 
The Crimson Hawks, now 3-3 on the season, will finish off their weekend with an early 10 a.m. match against West Virginia State on Saturday morning.