INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP women's volleyball program continues surging through the stretch run of the 2023 season, posting its seventh consecutive victory with a sweep of Edinboro on Senior Night at the KCAC. Set scores were 25-22, 25-16 and 25-15.
 
IUP (20-7, 10-3) records another 20-win season, the second consecutive for head coach Lorelle Hoyer. IUP also reached 10 conference victories, marking just the second time in program history the Crimson Hawks have won at least 10 conference matches in consecutive seasons (2016-17).
 
The Hawks recognized their eight seniors following the match and all contributed in some form to the victory. Friday's straight set win is the 10th sweep of the season for IUP, which put its dazzling play at the net on full display once again.
 
Leading the nation in total blocks, IUP racked up 14 blocks on Friday and held Edinboro (12-11, 7-6) to a hitting percentage of .010 for the night. The Hawks also dropped in 11 aces, coming from five different servers.
 
Simay Memisoglu logged a match-high 11 kills, while Stefania Anagnostou posted 10 kills, three aces and nine digs on the night. Both Nyla Birch and Caroline Walsh combined for nine block assists on the night and Bailey Flowerdew tied a match-high 12 digs.
 
Flowerdew posted a pair of service aces on Friday, now just two shy of 100 for her collegiate career.
 
Natalie Pallon posted a team-high six kills for Edinboro with Carly Pry recording 12 digs.
 
IUP did just enough and used a late push to claim a back-and-forth opening set. A four-point stretch that included kills from Memisoglu and Anagnostou, along with a Flowerdew ace, carried IUP to an 11-9 advantage. Edinboro rallied to knot the set at 22 before consecutive kills from Memisoglu closed out the set for IUP.
 
A pair of 6-0 runs lifted IUP to a comfortable advantage in the second set at 20-8. In the first scoring spurt, Delaney Concannon launched an ace, while adding a kill in the second scoring run for the Hawks. Hannah Simmon's ace prompted set point for the Hawks as Lauren Valentic closed out the frame with a kill, one of five on the night.
 
IUP used another fast start, racing ahead 13-6 in the clinching third set. Valentic capped a five-point swing with consecutive kills for a 13-6 lead before an 8-1 run put the frame out of reach for the Fighting Scots.
 
Valentic rejected a ball at the net, closing out a 25-15 set victory.  
 
Up Next
IUP hosts Gannon on Saturday, November 4 for the regular season home finale at the KCAC. First serve is slated for 3:00 p.m.
 
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's volleyball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawks and @IUPVB.