INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP women's volleyball program returned home and logged a four-set win in divisional play against Seton Hill on Friday night at the KCAC. Set scores were 25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 25-15.
IUP (14-7, 4-3) played to its strengths once again on Friday night, collecting 17 blocks for the match and hitting .279 for the match. Meanwhile, Seton Hill (8-11, 2-5) was held to a .073 hitting percentage for the match, but hung around to take the third set and challenge the Crimson Hawks into the fourth.
Friday's win came in
Lorelle Hoyer's 50th match at the helm of the Crimson Hawks, taking over prior to the start of last season.
Nyla Birch racked up 12 kills and eight blocks for IUP with
Lauren Valentic adding nine blocks of her own.
Bailey Flowerdew and
Delaney Concannon had 14 digs apiece, while
Kat Warpinski handed out 23 assists.
Paige Cole posted 11 kills and two aces in leading the Griffins on Friday.
Stout at the net all night, IUP was particularly strong int he opening set, posting two assisted block assists on the way to a 5-1 lead. Birch and Valentic combined at the net again for a 13-8 advantage, before the Hawks jumped ahead 20-13 on a Concannon kill.
Stefania Anagnostou dropped in a service ace, pushing IUP to a 25-18 victory.
A solo block from
Caroline Walsh helped IUP cap a strong start in the second set at 8-3. SHU whittled its deficit back within one at 13-12 before IUP used four consecutive points with kills from Concannon and
Simay Memisoglu.
IUP held serve the rest of the way, taking a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-21 set victory.
A four-point stretch provided SHU a 14-9 edge as the Griffins avoided the sweep with a 25-21 set victory.
The fourth set saw scoring runs from both sides. A decisive five-point surge which included a Warpinski ace and kills from Valentic and Birch, gave IUP a 19-11 cushion.
Birch set up match point for IUP with a kill before a SHU attack error secured the win for IUP.
Up Next
IUP hosts Slippery Rock on Saturday, October 14 for a 6:00 p.m. first serve at the KCAC.
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's volleyball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawks and @IUPVB.
Gallery: (10-13-2023) Volleyball vs. Seton Hill (10/13/23)
