ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Cedar Crest College volleyball team defeated Penn State Hazleton, 3-2 (24-26, 26-24, 21-25, 26-24, 15-13) on Thursday night at Lees Gymnasium. The Falcons trailed 11-8 in the fifth set before a 6-0 stretch put them ahead 14-11, and they finished the deciding set 15-13.
Cedar Crest put themselves in position to take the opening set, reaching 24-21 after a Nittany Lions attack error, but Penn State Hazleton scored the final five points to win 26-24. Sophomore
Kayla Duenkel (Central Square, N.Y./Bishop Grimes) led the Falcons' attack with five kills in the set, while first-years
Taylor Friel (Nazareth, Pa/Nazareth Area) and
Kylie Heffner (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) added repeated side-out swings to help Cedar Crest hold leads through the middle stages.
The Falcons closed the second set by taking the final four points while trailing 24-22, with Friel's service ace finishing a 26-24 win over the Nittany Lions. Earlier, after Penn State Hazleton moved ahead 15-12, Cedar Crest worked back to 16-16 and went in front 17-16 on Heffner's kill from classmate
Autumn Clewell (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton Area).
The Falcons' main push in the third set came from 21-11 down, when they won seven straight points behind two Duenkel kills and a service ace from sophomore
Samantha Fitzpatrick (Royse City, Texas/Community) to get to 21-18. Cedar Crest stayed within 23-20 after a Heffner kill and a Duenkel block, but the Nittany Lions closed out the set, 25-21.
The Falcons swung the fourth set with an 8-0 run from 9-12 to 17-12, including seven straight service points from Clewell. Friel had consecutive kills to tie the set at 12-12 and put Cedar Crest ahead 13-12, and Clewell added three aces during the run. After Penn State Hazleton later moved in front 24-23, the Falcons took the final three points, closing the set 26-24 on a Friel kill from Clewell.
In the fifth set, Clewell served six straight points and recorded three aces as Cedar Crest moved ahead 14-11. The Nittany Lions answered to get within 14-13, but Friel's kill from first-year
Gabby Manygoats (Bloomfield, N.M./Navajo Preparatory School) closed out the Falcons' 15-13 set win.
Duenkel led Cedar Crest with 16 kills and 19 points while hitting .324 and adding three blocks. Heffner recorded 14 kills, 32 digs, and 15 points. Clewell finished with 28 assists, 10 service aces and 13 digs. Friel added 12 kills, 22 digs, two aces and 14 points.
Senior Kaytlin Kelley (Fairmont, W. Va.) led Penn State Hazleton with 15 kills and 17.5 points, hitting .400 and adding two total blocks. Junior Olivia Bilbow (Mountain Top, Pa.) recorded 13 kills and 16 digs. Senior Sophia Del Vacchio (Gainesville, Va.) finished with 35 assists and seven digs. Alexa Young () collected a team-high 19 digs and added a service ace.
Cedar Crest (3-7 overall) open conference play with its next match on Saturday, September 26 at Penn State Brandywine at noon. Penn State Hazleton (7-7 overall) stays on the road for a contest at Penn State Fayette on Saturday at 4:00 p.m
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