INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP women's volleyball team opened Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play in style, rolling to a straight-set victory against Mercyhurst on Tuesday at the KCAC.
 
IUP (10-4, 1-0) notched its fourth sweep of the season, taking down Mercyhurst (2-7, 0-1) in set scores of 25-12, 25-23, 25-12.
 
Nyla Birch smacked a match-high 12 kills, adding a pair of blocks for 13 points on the night. Delaney Concannon added eight kills in a balanced effort on a strong .538 hitting percentage, one more than Stefania Anagnostou's seven kills on the night.
 
IUP, which entered the match leading NCAA DII in total team blocks, continued its success at the net with 10 total blocks on the night. Bailey Flowerdew, who continued closing in on 1,000 career digs, posted 13 digs on Tuesday against the Lakers. Kat Warpinski and Hannah Simmons once again guided the offense, combining for 29 assists.
 
Mercyhurst mustered just 25 kills on the night, paced by seven each from Kate Hennesy and Andrea Zaric. Kaitlin Murphy notched five block assists in leading the Lakers.
 
IUP doubled up Mercyhurst at 10-5 early in the first set, later using a 6-0 surge to race ahead by a 15-5 margin. Anagostou and Birch posted a pair of kills each in the run, while Valentic and Birch added a block assist prompting another Mercyhurst timeout.
 
The lead continued to hover around double digits for IUP in the first set. Concannon dropped in a well-placed ace for a 20-7 advantage. Concannon smacked down a kill from the right side, handing IUP a 25-12 set victory. The Hawks hit .262 for the set, led by efficient hitting from both Birch and Anagnostou.
 
IUP utilized another quick start in the second set, doubling the output of the Lakers at 8-4. Mercyhurst chipped away, slicing its deficit to 11-9 with a trio of consecutive kills. The set continued going back and forth behind runs from both sides. Mercyhurst rattled off four straight points to regain the lead at 21-20.
 
Strong offense swung momentum back in favor of IUP, which eventually took the set by a 25-23 count. Rylee Brown and Simay Memisoglu helped kickstart the final rally with a block assist before Brown and Birch recorded kills that pushed IUP to set point.
 
A mixture of kills and Mercyhurst attack errors lifted IUP to an 8-3 lead at the onset of the third set. Anagostou placed down her seventh kill of the night for the 8-3 lead, forcing Mercyhurst into a timeout. IUP continued asserting itself, using a 5-0 spurt and extending the lead to 11-3. IUP continued pressing the advantage, working its lead to double digits at 14-4. Caroline Walsh smacked a kill down the middle for a 20-9 edge before IUP closed out the sweep.
 
Up Next
IUP visits California (Pa.) for divisional action on Friday, September 22 for a 6:00 p.m. first serve.
 
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's volleyball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPVB.
 

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