STEUBENVILLE, Ohio -- On Thursday, the Mount Aloysius Women's Volleyball team stepped out of conference play for the final time, this season, as they traveled to Franciscan. The matchup with the Barons (13-7) broke up the otherwise uneventful week for the Mounties (11-12). While the Mounties battled before falling in straight sets, Senior
Matie Rupp (York, Pa. / West York) had two service aces to reach 100 for her career. Rupp also tallied a team-high, 16 digs, in the game.
In the first set, the Mounties trailed for a majority and faced a 23-17 deficit. Mount Aloysius then rattled off seven of the next eight points to tie the score at 24 all. Unforunately, the Barons picked up three kills, sandwiched around a Mountie kill by
Mackenzie Barr (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler), to win the first set, 27-25.
The second set looked similar to the first. Mount Aloysius fought back twice, the first time to tie the score at 13, then again to cut the score to 24-23. Franciscan had five chances to pick up the winning point before getting a kill on their sixth attempt, to take a 2-0 lead in the game.
Mount Aloysius attempted another comeback in the third set, as they saw their biggest deficit of the day, trailing 20-11 at one point. While the would cut the lead back to four points, 24-20, the Barons finished them off quicker this time and won the fifth set, 25-20.
Molly Richards (Naples, Fla. / Naples) led the Mountie offense with 14 kills, while she tied Rupp with a team-high, 16 digs. Richards had just one hitting error, giving her an impressive .371 hitting percentage for the night. Barr was the other Mountie hitter with double-digit kills, as she registered 12.
Reghyn Wilson (Harrisburg, Pa. / Bishop McDevitt) led the setters, with 18 assists.
The Mounties will head on the road, next Wednesday, for their final road game of the regular season, with a short trip down the Mountain to face Penn State Altoona. Their final three games of the regular season will be at home, after that. Penn State Altoona is currently 13-10, on the season, with a 4-0 record in AMCC play. They are the only team that is still undefeated in AMCC play. They have a conference matchup with Pitt-Bradford, this weekend, before playing Mount Aloysius next week.