LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Friday night, the Bloomsburg University volleyball team kicked off the second round of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East matches with a 3-0 sweep of Lock Haven University. The win is the Huskies' 10th of the season, tying the program's win record with seven regular-season contests left. The Huskies are now 10-11 for the year and 5-3 in the PSAC, while the Bald Eagles drop to 3-15 for the season and 1-7 in conference play.
The Huskies are now 5-1 against the Bald Eagles all time and are riding a five-match winning streak. Since starting the program at Bloomsburg after leaving LHU, head coach
Dan Kreiger is 3-0 inside Lock Haven's gym. Friday night's 3-0 is the third sweep in the all-time series for the Huskies.
The Huskies rolled to an opening 25-19 set one victory before surviving a late-set surge and taking the second set 25-18. The Huskies and Bald Eagles exchanged long runs in the final set, with Bloomsburg coming out on top, 25-23, thanks to a four-point run to end the set and match.
As a team, the Huskies hit .130 behind 30 kills. Bloomsburg posted five team blocks as well. Senior
Grace Giza (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) led the Huskies with eight kills, while senior
Sydney Buell (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) had six kills and three blocks. Sophomore
Liz Bopp (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria) added three blocks as well for BU.
Graduate student
Alyssa Cianciulli (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) posted 24 digs for the three-set match and is now at 1,950 digs in her career at BU.
Senior
Bryn Stek (Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) dished out 14 assists while sophomore
Aydan Espinal (Rock Hill, S.C./Rock Hill) had 13.
The Huskies cruised to a 23-14 lead in the first set before the Bald Eagles put together a four-point run to cut the lead to 23-17. The two teams traded the following two points before Buell closed out the set with a kill to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
The second set began closer than the first as the two teams were knotted at 6-6 before Bloomsburg took a 9-6 lead. The Bald Eagles got one point back to make it 9-7, but Bloomsburg used a 10-4 run to break open the set and take a 20-11 lead. Lock Haven chipped away at the lead and cut it to three at 22-19. A kill from senior
Mary Kate Mooney (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) kicked off a three-point run to close out the set and once against Buell ended it with a kill to give Bloomsburg the 2-0 lead.
Bloomsburg jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set, but the Bald Eagles answered with a five-point run of their own to take a 5-4 lead. The two teams went back and forth over the following several points until Lock Haven went on a six-point run to take a 13-8 advantage. Bloomsburg did not back down and kept the deficit close before a 7-1 run, for Bloomsburg gave the Huskies a 19-18 lead. Lock Haven tied it at 19-19 and took a 20-19 lead. After a block by Mooney and Bopp gave the Huskies back the serve and tied the set at 20-20, Cianciulli served the next point to provide BU with a 21-20 lead. Three-straight kills by Lock Haven's Grace Hugar gave the lead back to the Bald Eagles, 23-20, who looked poised to close out the set and force a fourth one. Mooney halted the run with a kill of her own, and Giza sandwiched her seventh and eighth kills around one from senior
Mia Nicholes (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) to give Bloomsburg a 25-23 set win and a 3-0 match victory.
The Huskies return to action next Friday as they travel to Millersville University for a key PSAC East contest at 7:00 pm. Earlier this season, the Huskies defeated the Marauders 3-2 in a five-set thriller at Nelson Field House for their first win over Millersville in program history.
