CALIFORNIA, Pa. – All 15 Crimson Hawks saw court time on Saturday, as the all-around effort helped the IUP women's volleyball team to two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) victories at Hamer Hall at California (Pa.).
The two victories came over Cheyney and West Chester, as IUP finished its PSAC opening weekend with a 4-0 record. The Crimson Hawks also improved to 11-2 overall on the season.
The IUP offense received contributions from multiple players on the afternoon. Sophomore
Alexis Anderson (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield) led the way with 15 kills, all against West Chester. Fellow sophomore
Natalie Cignetti (Indiana, Pa. /Indiana) had 14 kills, also just against the Golden Rams, while senior
Meghan Schneider (Lake Geneva, Wis. /Big Foot) also finished with 14 combined kills.
Junior
Kaitlyn Palmer (Indiana, Pa. /Indiana) had 11 kills, while sophomore
Makayla Roy (Olney, Md. /Sherwood) added nine. Junior
Lily McWilliams (Rockville, Md./Thomas Sprigg Wootton), sophomore
Gabrielle Egler (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Obama Academy), and redshirt freshman
Elora Pittman (Jackson, Mich./Michigan Center) each finished with seven.
Junior
Lindsay Moeller (Troy, Mich./Troy) and sophomore
Katie Miller (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) split time at the setter position, finishing with 37 and 35 assists, respectively.
Defensively for the Crimson Hawks, freshman
Jess Marut (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside) had a team-high 25 digs. Palmer added 20 while Cignetti had 15. Schneider had six block assists and McWilliams had five, while Pittman added a pair of solo blocks.
The Crimson Hawks easily defeated Cheyney, winning 25-11, 25-8 and 25-11. They dropped the opening set to West Chester, 25-20, before rallying for wins of 25-16, 26-24, and 25-23.
For the second straight day, IUP excelled on serves with 18 combined aces on Saturday. Cignetti had five against West Chester while Miller had three against Cheyney. Five players had two apiece. The Crimson Hawks finished with 33 total aces in four matches this weekend.
IUP begins PSAC West play next weekend with road contests at Slippery Rock on Friday night and Edinboro on Saturday afternoon.
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's volleyball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPVB.
