MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Seniors Natalie Cignetti (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) and Gabby Egler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Barack Obama Academy) combined for 34 kills as IUP women's volleyball rallied from an early defeat to take down Millersville in four sets on the road on Friday night.
 
Cignetti finished with 20 kills while Egler had 14. The duo hit a combined .333 on the night to lead the Crimson Hawks to a key road victory as they improved to 18-7 overall and 9-3 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
 
The win also vaulted IUP back into second place in the Southwest Division with that 9-3 league record, sandwiched between first place Seton Hill (18-4, 10-2) and third place Clarion (17-8, 8-4).
 
Millersville (15-7, 6-6) opened the match with a 25-20 set one win, as the Crimson Hawks managed just nine kills and a .029 hitting percentage. IUP then rallied for a 26-24 win in set two, barely escaping another loss with four straight points after trailing 24-22.
 
The Crimson Hawks hardly trailed the rest of the way, using multiple runs to post wins of 25-17 and 25-18 in the third and fourth sets, respectively.
 
After that poor offensive performance in the first set, the Crimson Hawks averaged 16 kills per set and hit .264 the rest of the way. Cignetti hit .327 while posting her fourth 20-kill match of the season. She added 14 digs and two block assists. The 14 kills tied a season-high for Egler, who hit .345 for the match and added a pair of block assists.
 
Adding to the offensive output was sophomore middle Jessica Ignace (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon), who came off the bench to post a season-high 10 kills and a .348 hitting percentage.
 
Senior setter Katie Miller (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) dished out 46 assists, her 11th outing of at least 40 including four straight. Junior Jess Marut (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside) had 23 digs and grad Ellie Burns (Clarion, Pa./Clarion) added 16.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks face the top team in the PSAC on Saturday in Shippensburg, which is 19-6 overall and 11-1 in the league. Start time is set for 1 p.m.  
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's volleyball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPVB.