READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions women's volleyball team outlasted Immaculata in five sets (22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 24-26, 15-9 ) on Saturday morning in non-conference action at the Bollman Center.
 
With the win, the Lions improve to 7-7 overall as they snap a two-game losing streak. Meanwhile, the Mighty Macs of the Atlantic East fall to 4-10 overall.
 
Junior Brooke Franklin led all Lions with nine kills, while first-year Grace Andrefski and Paige Westra tallied eight kills apiece. Westra also added six digs and Andrefski posted two blocks in the win. Junior Kaitlyn Chell matched a single-game five-set program record held by her teammate, Alexa Poss, with eight service aces. Chell also added 17 digs and one kill. First-year Gabby Metviner recorded six kills and nine digs, and Poss paced the offense with 34 assists in addition to tallying three kills. First-year libero Shelby Cheuvront led the Lions with a team-high 25 digs.
 
The Mighty Macs came out strong in set one as they raced out to an early 8-2 lead behind five kills and one service ace. Albright continued to struggle throughout the first set of the match as Immaculata grew their lead out to 10 points at 17-7. The Lions then began to make a charge at the Mighty Macs as they won six-straight points to make it a 17-13 game behind a trio of attack errors from Immaculata. Albright would get within three points of Immaculata at 22-19, and two points at 24-22. Unfortunately for the Lions, the Mighty Macs closed the set out with a kill on the ensuing point. The second set went back and forth to start with each team taking advantage of multiple service errors. Down 4-3, the Lions took charge and won eight of the next nine points to go up 11-5. Chell was a key part of the run as she recorded three-straight aces. The Mighty Macs moved within four points at 12-8, but the Lions responded by winning four of the next six points to take a 16-10 lead. Following three-straight Mighty Mac points, the Lions grabbed eight of the next 10 points to go up 24-15. However, the Mighty Macs did not go away as they won six-straight points to put pressure on the Lions at 24-21. Albright did end the threat with a kill from Metviner one rally later to even the match at one.
 
The third set again began with back and forth action as the score saw five ties and three lead changes to leave the score tied at six. Albright took four of the next five points to go up 10-7 behind three kills, and maintained that same advantage at 13-10 a few points later. Immaculata cut the lead to one at 13-12 before the Lions won five of the next six points to go up 18-13. Albright continued with momentum following back-to-back Mighty Mac points as they took five of the next seven points to go up 23-17. Immaculata started a late rally again as they got within four points at 24-20, but a kill from Westra ended the threat at 25-20. Albright began the fourth set by taking advantage of a few Mighty Mac errors to go up 5-2. The Mighty Macs would go on small runs during the first portion of the fourth set, but were unable to get within three points until they made it 9-8. Albright continued to have answers for Immaculata as they went up by as many as four points at 17-13. The Lions then went up 18-15 and looked to extend their lead, but a fire alarm delay in the Bollman Center forced a 25-minute stoppage. After the delay, the Lions won the next point on an ace from sophomore Grace Serafin, but saw the Mighty Macs win four-straight points to knot things up at 19. The two teams battled into extra points with the Mighty Macs eventually taking the fourth set 26-24 to force a decisive fifth set.
 
An Immaculata ace started the fifth set, but the Lions won five-straight points behind a pair of aces from Poss. The Mighty Macs would get within two points at 7-5 before Albright went on a game-deciding run to go up 13-6. The Lions won six of the next seven points in that run with Chell again registering three-straight aces. The Mighty Macs made one last charge with three-straight points to cut the Lions lead down to 13-9, but Albright finished the game with back-to-back points to end a wild contest.
 
Natalie Dependahl led the mighty Macs with a game-high 16 kills, while Aly Lowe posted 11 kills and 16 assists.
 
The Lions will return to action on Wednesday, October 9^th as they will host Lebanon Valley in MAC Commonwealth play at 7 p.m.