ALTOONA SWEPT BY NO. 1 JUNIATA IN NCAA TOURNAMENT OPENER

The Penn State Altoona women's volleyball team made its fourth NCAA postseason appearance in program history on Thursday evening, when the Lions faced off against No. 1 Juniata College in the first round of the Division III Championships' Huntingdon Region bracket at the Eagles' Memorial Gymnasium.

Juniata (30-0), the two-time defending NCAA Division III champion, handed Penn State Altoona (18-12) a 3-0 loss, as the Eagles prevailed in three sets by scores of 25-12, 25-16, and 25-11. Juniata moves on to the second day of the regional bracket tomorrow, Friday, November 22, while Penn State Altoona is eliminated.

The Lions' Lia Simanski scored a team-best five points on five kills. Ella Hadley had four points on four kills. Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) had 2.5 points on a kill, an ace, and a block assist, and Maggie Brewer also had 2.5 points on two kills and a block assist.

Makenna Port and Jadeyn Price chipped in 1.5 points apiece, with both players recording one kill and one block assist.

Madelyn Rockwell had a team-best eight assists for the Lions, and Julia Emel added five assists.

Anna Batrus put up a team-high eight digs for Penn State Altoona, while Brianna Woodring had four digs.

After a kill from Hadley made it 1-1 in the first set, Juniata ripped off eight straight points to go up 9-1. A kill from Simanski and four Juniata attack errors kept the difference at eight points, 13-5, and another Hadley kill helped to close the gap to seven, 15-8. But the Eagles pulled away even further, and despite late a late kill from Simanski and a service ace by Myers, the Lions fell 25-12 in the opening set.

Juniata opened the second set by scoring the first five points, en route to a 10-3 start. But kills from Simanski, Port, Hadley, and Brewer helped Penn State Altoona narrow its deficit to five points, 15-10, midway through the set. Simanski, Hadley, and Myers added more kills to the Lions' point total, but Juniata ultimately took the second set by a score of 25-16 to establish a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Eagles staked out a commanding 16-2 advantage to start the third set. After that, Port and Brewer teamed up on a block, followed by kills from Price and Simanski to make it 16-5. Myers and Price combined for a block to put the Eagles' lead at 18-9, but Juniata responded with a 6-0 run to get to set point, 24-9. After two Juniata attack errors, the home team scored a kill to end the set at 25-11 and knock the Lions out of the NCAA Tournament.

Penn State Altoona women's volleyball finishes its 2024 season with an 18-12 overall record. The Lions went 7-1 in the AMCC regular season, placing second in the league standings. The team went on to defeat Penn State Behrend and Alfred State College in the AMCC Tournament to claim their fourth-ever conference championship and earn an automatic berth into the NCAA postseason.