ERIE, Pa. – The IUP women's volleyball team battled through some adversity before posting the program's first NCAA Tournament win in six years with a sweep of UPJ. Set scores were 25-22, 25-16, 25-17.
 
Making its 11th NCAA Tournament berth in program history, the Hawks were cool and collected despite finding themselves in an early hole in the second and third sets. IUP (22-10) posted its last NCAA Tournament victory against West Chester in Wheeling, a 3-0 sweep, matching Thursday's final score.
 
IUP asserted itself at the net and service line in the victory, utilizing a balanced approach across the lineup. Stefania Anagnostou logged nine kills and nine digs, while Delaney Concannon posted a similar stat line of eight kills and nine digs.
 
Kat Warpinski had three aces and 15 digs, keying the final stretch for IUP in the third set at the service line. Lauren Valentic posted a match-high 10 kills with Caroline Walsh dropping in three kills on the night. 
 
In a tightly contested start to the match, IUP opened up a slim 11-8 margin before the Mountain Cats battled back to level the score. A 7-0 blitz that included two kills from Birch and a pair of aces from Anagnostou carried the Hawks to an 18-11 advantage. The Mountain Cats had one final charge, whittling the deficit to 22-18 and 23-21 before IUP eventually finished out the frame.
 
Five players posted multiple kills for IUP in the first set, led by four from Anagnostou, who also added a pair of aces. Nyla Birch logged six kills and Simay Memisoglu notched five of her own.
 
UPJ concludes a stellar season in the NCAA Atlantic Region Quarterfinals. Brooke Pelloni posted five kills in a tough day offensively for the Mountain Cats with Luis Alvarado and Adiamar Baez adding a pair of service aces each.
 
UPJ got off to a quick start in the second set, posting the initial four points of the frame. The Hawks eventually battled back for an 8-6 lead behind a five point surge that included Walsh's second ace of the night, prompting a UPJ timeout. The Hawks kept rolling, widening the advantage to 15-9 with a spurt of four straight. The balanced attack continued in the mini run with Valentic, Memisoglu and Anagnostou all delivering kills for IUP.
 
The Hawks remained in control as a kill from Birch pushed the lead to 20-13. Simmons ultimately finished out the second set with an ace for the 25-16 victory. Anagnostou, Concannon and Valentic all has six kills each through two sets.
 
The Mountain Cats stormed out of the gates again in the third set, jumping ahead 4-0 and 8-4 before the Hawks slowly battled back. A three-point swing that included a service ace for Bailey Flowerdew gave the Hawks a lead it would not relinquish at 19-16. One final run finished out the season and match sweep for the Crimson Hawks, keyed by some excellent serving from Warpinski.
 
Up Next
IUP faces top seed and host Gannon on Friday, December 1 in the 2023 NCAA DII Atlantic Region Semifinals inside the Highmark Events Center at 7:30 p.m.
 
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's volleyball on X (Twitter) @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPVB.

   

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