KUTZTOWN, Pa. – IUP senior outside hitter
Natalie Cignetti (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) hit the 1,000 career kill milestone on Saturday as she helped the Crimson Hawks to a three-set conference volleyball win over Kutztown.
Cignetti became just the fifth player in program history to reach 1,000 kills, while also moving into fourth place all-time with 1,012. She passed Tracy Pangallo, who had 1,007 from 1999-2001.
Cignetti had 16 kills on 45 total attacks with just five errors against Kutztown, bringing her conference-leading totals to 198 kills and 4.40 kills per set. It was the fifth straight win for the Crimson Hawks, who improved to 11-3 overall with a 2-0 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) record. The five straight wins is the longest current streak in the 16-team conference.
IUP outhit the Golden Bears (5-9, 0-2) .228 to .068 on the afternoon, with Kutztown finishing with just 29 kills on 118 total attacks. The Crimson Hawks forced KU to hit negative in 25-16 opening set win, before putting up 25-22 and 25-18 victories four their fourth straight three-set win this fall.
Junior middle blocker
Sami Brown (Lewisberry, Pa./Red Land) had her second straight 11-kill match, hitting .304 with two block assists against the Bears. Senior outside hitter
Alexis Anderson (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield) had eight kills on 13 attacks (.462) and classmate
Gabby Egler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Barack Obama Academy) added seven kills in 18 attacks.
Senior setter
Katie Miller (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) finished with 42 assists, as she took the PSAC lead with 11.07 assists per set on the season. The 42 assists are the most for her in a three-set match this season.
Junior libero
Jess Marut (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside) had a team-best 17 digs, with Cignetti adding 12.
Up next
IUP has one more road matchup at Wheeling Jesuit on Tuesday night before returning home next weekend with contests against Cheyney (Friday) and West Chester (Saturday).
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's volleyball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPVB.
