WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Albright Lions women's volleyball team earned a split at the King's Tri-Match on Saturday afternoon. The Lions fell to host King's in straight sets before pulling out a five set win against Rutgers-Newark.
 
With the split, the Lions record moves to 7-10 overall as they also tallied their first five set win since they defeated Alvernia in five sets in October 2016. Meanwhile, the Lady Monarchs improved to 15-5 as they won both matches on Saturday and the Scarlet Raiders fell to 12-7 overall after dropping both matches on Saturday.
 
Sophomore Bryana Chambers led the Lions in kills by tallying 19 in two games with 13 coming against Rutgers-Newark. Sophomore Kaitlyn Chell followed by posting a combined 15 kills in two games with 11 of them coming against Rutgers-Newark, and 33 combined digs with 23 coming against the Scarlet Raiders. Sophomore Damaris Gomez registered 16 combined kills in two games and 15 digs with 11 of them coming against Rutgers-Newark. Sophomore Alexa Poss paced the Lions offense in the two games with 59 combined assists with a season-high 38 coming against Rutgers-Newark, and senior Becca Davis registered 52 combined digs with a career-high 37 digs coming against Rutgers-Newark.
 
In the first match of the day against King's, the Lions were unable to overcome a consistent Lady Monarchs attack as they fell (25-11, 25-18, 25-17). Chell and Chambers started the first set well for the Lions as they tallied back-to-back kills before King's took seven of the next nine points to go up 7-4. The Lions battled to cut the lead down to 9-7 until the Lady Monarchs used a run of taking eight of the next nine points to take a commanding 17-8 lead. King's then took three of the next four points after Albright stopped the run to go up 21-10. The Lady Monarchs would close the first set by winning the final four points. King's success continued into the second set as they quickly raced out to a 6-2 lead behind four kills. The Lions fought back by taking four of the next five points to make it a 7-6 game early on as freshman Grace Serafin tallied two kills. The Lady Monarchs then used another big run to go up 15-7 after taking eight of the next nine points. Albright would get no closer than seven points at 16-9 before the Lady Monarchs went to take a 23-12 lead. The Lions made one last run by taking six of the next seven points to cut the King's lead 24-18 before the Lady Monarchs used a kill to end the rally.
 
It was the Lions that started strong in the third set as they took the initial 3-1 lead before holding the advantage at 4-3. The set then started going back and forth to leave the score at 7-7 before the Lady Monarchs won four-straight points to go up 11-7. Up 12-8, the Lady Monarchs then took seven of the next nine points to take a commanding 19-10 lead. The Lions cut the lead down to 19-14 after taking the next four points, but King's would close the game out by taking six of the last nine points.
 
Against the Scarlet Raiders, the Lions survived to take the win after losing a 2-0 set advantage lead. Rutgers-Newark took the early advantage in the first set as they went up 4-2 until the Lions stormed back to take a 9-5 lead by winning seven of the next eight points. Up 9-6, Albright would extend its lead to 13-7 after winning four of the next five points. Four attack errors by the Scarlet Raiders moved the score to 18-10 in favor of Albright before Rutgers-Newark made a run by taking the next five points to make it 18-15. Fortunately for the Lions, the Scarlet Raiders got no closer than two points at 19-17 before they earned the first set win at 25-21.
 
The Lions jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set and would work its way up to hold an 8-5 lead early on in the second set. Following a kill from Chambers, the Lions found themselves up 12-7 and still maintained a lead after Rutgers-Newark won three of the next four points. Albright had an answer for any potential Scarlet Raider rally as they eventually took a 20-12 lead after taking five of the next six points after being up 15-11. The Lions went up 23-14 and withstood one last rally from the Scarlet Raiders to take the second set at 25-18. Needing something after the Lions took the first two sets, the Scarlet Raiders jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in set three behind four kills. Rutgers-Newark worked its way to a 10-4 lead before the Lions responded by winning four of the next five points to make it an 11-8 game. The Lions moved within two at 15-13 before the Scarlet Raiders stretched its lead out to five at 18-13, and would eventually take a 21-16 lead. Albright charged back to get within one at 24-23, but a service error would force a fourth set.
 
The Scarlet Raptors continued momentum into the fourth set as they raced out to a 7-1 lead. Albright would get no closer the rest of the set than four at 8-4 as the Scarlet Raiders played their best set of the contest to force a decisive fifth set after hitting .220. The Lions started hot in the fifth set as they took an early 4-0 lead behind two kills from Chambers. Albright worked its way out to a 9-6 lead before the Scarlet Raiders won four-straight points to take its first lead of the set at 10-9. However Albright used three Rutgers-Newark errors to go up 12-10, and then won the last three points to win the match behind three-straight kills. Albright hit .258 in the fifth set which was the highest of the day.
 
Albright will return to action on Tuesday, October 9^th when they will travel to face Valley Forge in non-conference action at 6 p.m.