Altoona, PA – The D'Youville women's volleyball team lost their opening conference match of the season Saturday afternoon to the host Penn State-Altoona Lions by the final score of 3-0.

Altoona grabbed an early 10-2 leave in the first set. The Spartans would close the gap to 4 following a Julie Fleming (Tonawanda, NY/Mt. St. Mary Academy) block. The Lions would continue to dominate and re-extend their lead and win the set by the final of 25-16.

Set two would be more dominance from the Lions. Altoona would hold an 11-5 advantage over the Spartans and then take off, outscoring their opponents 11-5 yet again to take a 22-10 to lead. Penn State would close out the second set strong and win by the final score of 25-13.

For the third straight set, Altoona came out and controlled the set. With an early 13-1 lead, the Lions seemed to have a hold on the match. However, the Spartans clawed their way back into the set after 6 consecutive points, 5 coming off serves from Kendyll Smith (Petrolia, PA/Karns City). Trailing 21-17, Altoona would again show their strength and take the third set by the score of 25-19, winning the match 3-0.

Megan McCarthy (Eden, NY/Eden) and Megan Schneider (Lockport, NY/Lockport) led the team in kills against Altoona with 5 each. Kaitlyn Grimm (Erie, PA/Iroquois) had 17 digs to lead the team, followed by Megan Gawrys (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballson Spa) and Schneider with 7. Julie Fleming had 4 total block and Gawrys had a team high 12 assists.