READING, Pa. – The Cedar Crest College volleyball team was tripped up by Alvernia University in a 3-0 final on Tuesday night at the Physical Education Center.
The Golden Wolves took the match by set scores of 25-18, 25-19, and 25-22.

Junior Alana Connor (Manassas, Va./Charles J. Colgan) and sophomore Tianlly Davila (Frederick, Md./Governor Thomas Johnson) led the Falcons offense with five kills apiece. Graduate student Ziah Melton (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) chipped in four kills. Classmate Ava Grapsy (Macungie, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) finished with two kills, 15 assists, one service ace, and 13 digs. Graduate student Rebekka Sanchez-Castro (Columbia, Md./Atholton) pitched in a match-high 18 digs.

Alvernia held a slim 4-3 advantage in the opening set before stringing together a 6-0 run to build a seven-point lead, 10-3. The home team grew its margin to as many as 11 after a Cedar Crest attack error, 16-5. The Falcons responded with five consecutive points, capped off by a service ace from Grapsy to trim the lead to six, 16-10. The Golden Wolves had a 5-0 run of its own go up by double-digits, 21-10. The Falcons would make a late run, scoring eight of the final 12 points of the set, but it was Alvernia winning the set 25-18.

The Golden Wolves had a slight 10-8 lead in the second set before the Falcons scored five straight points to grab a 13-10 advantage. Alvernia responded with a 7-1 run to change three-point leads, 17-14. After an attack error from the Golden Wolves made it 19-18, the home team finished the set on a 6-1 spurt to capture the frame with a six-point victory, 25-19.

Cedar Crest started fast with five consecutive points in the third set and extended its margin to six, 10-4. Alvernia came back with six straight points to knot the set at 10. Later in the frame after the Falcons went up one, 18-17, the Golden Wolves registered five consecutive points of its own to go up 22-18 and concluded the set with a three-point triumph, 25-22.

Cedar Crest (3-3 overall) will return to the court on at the Knights Invitational at Neumann University on Friday, September 13 against Rowan University at 4:00 p.m. Alvernia (6-2 overall) will host New Jersey City University and Delaware University in a tri-match on Saturday, September 14 at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., respectively.