Lions Tamed By the Phoenix in Back and Forth Five Set Match

By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto volleyball team traveled to crosstown rival Wilson College on Tuesday evening. The Lions pushed the Phoenix to five sets, but ultimately fell short at 15-7.

Set Scores

• Wilson College won 25-22, 16-25, 24-26, 25-18, 15-7

Inside the Box Score

• Mont Alto finished with 44 kills compared to the Phoenix who finished with 47. The Lions were led by Courtney Stump (Greencastle, Pa. / Greencastle Antrim) who connected on 19 kills and finished with 14 digs on the defensive end.
• Rachel Manikowski (Mercersburg, Pa. / James Buchanan) finished with nine kills and 16 digs.
• Junior Katie Muse (Hagerstown, Md. / Boonsboro) finished with a match-best 22 digs.

How it Happened

• With the teams playing on a yearly basis, the 2018 matchup turned out to be another competitive affair with the first set being dominated by back-and-forth raillies by both teams. Wilson ended up weathering the Mont Alto storm and won the first set, 25-22.
• Mont Alto capitalized on the Phoenix hitting errors within the second set to build a lead and the team won the set by a score of 25-16.
• The Lions swung .146 in the third set totaling a team-best 13 kills during the set. PSUMA once again capitalized on the Phoenix hitting errors as they totaled 11 within the set. The game was ultimately won at 26-24 with Mont Alto coming out on top of another rally.
• The Lions let off the gas just a bit in the fourth set with Wilson establishing an early lead that they were unable to recover from.
• The Phoenix jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the decisive fifth set that forced a PSUMA timeout. The Lions were unable to cool the momentum as the Phoenix went on to win the set by a score of 15-7.

Mont Alto has the next five days to prepare for its final home match of the regular season against Trinity Washington on Monday, October 22.

The Lions are also in the midst PSUAC playoff hunt and in order for them to clinch the No. 4 seed, Mont Alto needs PSU Greater Allegheny to lose to either PSU Fayette on Wednesday evening or have PSU New Kensington defeat PSUGA on Saturday.