CRESSON, Pa. -- The Mount Aloysius Women's Volleyball team is headed back to the AMCC Postseason Tournament, after they clinched a spot with a 3-0 sweep of Hilbert, on Saturday. The Mounties (12-13, 4-2 AMCC) fought off a scrappy Hilbert (5-18, 3-5 AMCC) squad to earn the berth. They will now play the final two regular season games to find out where they will be seeded in the tournament.

The first set was tightly contested, as Hilbert actually led from the beginning. Mount Aloysius did not get their first lead until 14-13, on an ace from Matie Rupp (York, Pa. / West York). Then, the two teams traded points until a Mountie run, highlighted by three consecutive kills by Mackenzie Barr (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler), gave them a 22-20 lead. Mount Aloysius then finished off the set, earning a 25-22 victory.

Also in the first set, Molly Richards (Naples, Fla. / Naples) tallied five kills to give her 1,000 for her career. Richards is only the third Mountie Volleyball player to reach the 1,000 kill plateau, joining current Head Coach Brianna Baker and Jill McCoy. Both Baker and McCoy are in the Mount Aloysius Hall of Fame as players. Richards also went over 1,000 digs in her career, earlier this season. She finished with 11 kills and 29 digs, during Saturday's game.

In the second set, the Mounties jumped ahead first and eventually opened up a 15-8 lead. Unfortunately, they saw the lead evaporate quickly, as Hilbert scored 13 of the next 17 points to take a 21-19 lead. The Hawks put pressure on the Mounties, with a 24-21 set point, attempting to even the match. Mount Aloysius answered with four straight kills to take a 25-24 lead. Hilbert scored the next two to get another set point chance, but the Mounties scored the next three points to take a 2-0 lead in the match, winning the second set, 28-26.

Mount Aloysius kept the momentum to start the fourth set, scoring the first seven points. After a timeout, the Hawks turned the match around and would grab a 10-9 lead. The Mounties then used a timeout to flip the score again, stretching the lead all the way out to nine points, where they would ultimately put the Hawks away, 25-16.

Barr led the Mounties with 16 kills, hitting an impressive .297 for the match. Her sister, Madison Barr (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler), led the Mounties with 30 digs, just one more than Richards. Rupp led the Mounties with four aces, as she also added five kills and seven digs to the stat sheet.

Mount Aloysius has two regular season games left, both at home this upcoming week. On Tuesday, they will host Carlow (7-16, 1-6 AMCC) for the first time since they officially joined the AMCC. Then, next Saturday, the Mounties will host Alfred State (17-6, 5-1 AMCC). The Pioneers bested Penn State Altoona, putting them in a tie for first place in the conference, setting up a potentially pivotal matchup against the Mounties.