Morrisville State volleyball sweeps tri-match action; tops Harrisburg 3-2 and Berks 3-0

MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Morrisville State College volleyball team swept North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) tri-match action Saturday, topping visiting Penn State Harrisburg 3-2 and Penn State Berks 3-0 in Morrisville. Harrisburg split the day’s action with a win over Penn State Berks in the second of the day’s three contests.

In the first of the day’s line-up, Harrisburg went up two games to none, but couldn’t close the match as Morrisville State rallied from behind to top the Lions for a 3-2 final (22-25, 25-27, 25-19, 25-15, and 15-7).

Morrisville State’s Amanda Britton (Cazenovia, NY) led the Mustangs with 23 kills in the match, adding 19 defensive digs and an assisted and solo block. Ebony Whitfield (Benton Harbor, MI) contributed 19 kills, while digging 14 and stopping four solo at the net, while teammate Casie Kimbrell (Croghan, NY) tallied eight kills and 10 digs. Keli Stewart (Interlaken, NY) recorded 42 assists.

Amanda Duda (Centreville, VA) led Harrisburg’s offensive efforts with 12 kills while teammates Finesse Hempfing (Hanover, PA) and Elise Williams (Mountain Top, PA) each tallied six with Amanda Wade (Mechanicsburg, PA) recording 27 assists.

Wade led the Lions defensive efforts, tallying 23 digs, Hempfing contributing 13, while Melissa Reese (Hershey, PA) stopped four at the net.

In the second match of the afternoon, Harrisburg (9-7) held a 2-0 lead over Penn State Berks, before the Nittany Lions tied the series to force a fifth game. Harrisburg rallied from behind to edge out Berks by a final 16-14 in the fifth, claiming the 3-2 victory (25-13, 25-20, 21-25, 19-25, and 16-14).

Duda led the Lions with 19 kills in the match, adding three service aces and 13 defensive digs to her tallies for Harrisburg. Wade dished out 39 assists and had 18 digs, while Michelle Pellechia (Catasauqua, PA) added nine kills.

Susie Shelton (Birdsboro, PA) led the Berks offensive attack, killing 13 while Rachel Sweeney (Hellertown, PA) added 10. Jerica Detsch (Easton, PA) tallied 25 defensive digs.

In the final game of the day, Morrisville State topped Berks 3-0, fueled by Britton’s 16 kill and 10 dig performance, to sweep the day’s action (25-21, 26-24, 25-23) and improve to 7-7 overall this season.

Whitfield added eight kills and five blocks to the Morrisville State tallies, while Christina Houck (Sidney, NY) and Stewart added 10 and nine digs respectively.

Detsch led the Berks (2-9) efforts, tallying 15 kills and 14 digs, while Kristina Stancombe (Nazareth, PA) added seven kills and 21 defensive digs.

Morrisville State returns to the court Tuesday, October 6th at Hamilton College.

Morrisville State begins active membership within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Division III in 2009-10 and is eligible for NCAA Championship Tournament play.

Morrisville State volleyball sweeps tri-match action; tops Harrisburg 3-2 and Berks 3-0

M3P Media LLC © 2009