ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Cedar Crest College volleyball team lost to Penn State Abington, 3-1, in a United East Conference match on Saturday at Lees Gymnasium.
Prior to the match, the Falcons honored its lone senior
Jasmine Beck (Allentown, Pa./Building 21) in a special ceremony.
Cedar Crest spent the first set trying to recover from the Nittany Lions' 5-0 start, getting on the board with first-year
Gloria Slavik's (Key West, Fla./Basilica) kill from classmate
Gabby Manygoats (Bloomfield, N.M./Navajo Preparatory School). Sophomore
Kayla Duenkel (Central Square, N.Y./Bishop Grimes) added consecutive kills from Slavik to bring the Falcons to 14-5, but Penn State Abington continued to separate and took the set 25-9.
The Falcons had to recover late in the second set after the Nittany Lions scored six straight points to move from down 22-17 to ahead 23-22. Cedar Crest tied it at 24-24 on a Penn State Abington service error, then Slavik's kill from first-year
Autumn Clewell (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton Area) put the Falcons back in front. First-year
Kylie Heffner (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) finished the set with a kill from Clewell, giving Cedar Crest a 26-24 win.
The Falcons fell behind in the third set as the Nittany Lions stretched a 16-11 edge to 21-11 behind three service aces and a kill. Slavik helped Cedar Crest stay connected with three kills, and the Falcons made a late push from 24-13 with Duenkel's kill, Duenkel's block and consecutive Beck aces. Penn State Abington closed the set at 25-17.
Cedar Crest erased a 16-10 deficit by winning seven of eight rallies, getting kills from Heffner and Slavik and back-to-back Manygoats aces to draw even at 17-17. The Nittany Lions responded with the final eight points to take the set, 25-17.
Slavik led the Falcons with 11 kills and 14 points, adding 10 assists, seven digs and three service aces. Heffner recorded a team-high 20 digs and added seven kills. Clewell finished with a team-best 15 assists, six digs, two kills and a block assist. Duenkel posted four kills and a team-high three total blocks, including two solo blocks.
Senior Zayna Jamaladdin (Philadelphia, Pa.) finished with 13 kills, five service aces, four block assists and 20.0 points for Penn State Abington. Junior Fabiola Medina (Caguas, Puerto Rico) recorded 23 digs and six aces. Junior Ellie Van Otten (Buckeye, Ariz.) added 13 kills on a .455 hitting percentage with four block assists and 16.0 points. Sophomore Mari Banjoff (Sheffield, Ohio) tallied 27 assists, seven digs and two aces.
Cedar Crest (3-11 overall, 0-3 United East) will next play at Wilson College on Tuesday, October 6 at 7:00 p.m. Penn State Abington (9-5 overall, 2-1 United East) returns home to host Notre Dame of Maryland University on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
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