INDIANA, Pa. – Despite a furious comeback and some clutch plays down the stretch, top seed IUP fell to eight seed Edinboro in five sets in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women's Volleyball Championships on Tuesday at the Kovalchick Complex.
 
Down two sets to one, the Crimson Hawks picked up a dominating 25-16 win in the fourth set to tie things up and take momentum into the fifth. Senior outside hitter Natalie Cignetti (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) served the final six points for IUP as a once confident Edinboro team looked out of place with five errors during the run.
 
The Fighting Scots took control of the fifth set early, getting out to a 7-2 lead before the Crimson Hawks came roaring back, tying it at 11-11 on the strength of a 7-1 run.
 
The excitement continued with big plays on both sides as IUP and Edinboro combined for four ties and five lead changes. With the set knotted up at 15-15, Edinboro's Cierah Jackson (kill) and Paige Morris (block) ended it all with two straight points, putting a premature end to IUP's conference title hopes.
 
Edinboro (22-9) won the first set 25-22 with the Crimson Hawks coming back with a 25-21 set two win. The Fighting Scots then took the third 25-20.
 
The Crimson Hawks hit .167 for the night, with their best performance coming in the fifth set at .233.
 
Cignetti finished with a team-high 16 kills on 60 total attacks, adding a team-best 17 digs defensively.
 
Senior middle Gabby Egler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Barack Obama Academy) had IUP's most consistent performance offensively with 15 kills, including five in the fourth set victory, finishing with a .462 hitting percentage. She added five block assists and two service aces for 19.5 total points.
 
Senior outside Alexis Anderson (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield) also had 15 kills. Senior setter Katie Miller (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) finished with 52 assists and had three block assists.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks now await word from the NCAA on a possible Division II Championships bid. IUP was ranked fifth last Wednesday, which did not take into account it's 3-0 week vs. Clarion, California, and Seton Hill.
 
The next regional ranking will be released tomorrow, and that ranking will not include tonight's loss.
 
The 64-team NCAA playoff field will officially be announced on Monday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.

Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's volleyball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPVB.