WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Albright Lions women's volleyball team split a pair of matches against Wilkes on Saturday afternoon on non-conference action. The Lions won the first match in straight-sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-16) before the Colonels repaid the favor (25-22, 25-15, 25-16) in the second match.
 
With the split, the Lions record moves to 4-4 overall and the Colonels move to 8-10 overall. The teams were originally supposed to each play CCNY in the original Wilkes Tri-Match before the Beavers canceled.
 
Senior Brooke Franklin tied for the team lead with eight kills in the first match on a .400 hitting percentage, and added five blocks and four digs. First-year Sophie Hampton matched Franklin with eight kills along with adding three digs, and senior Bryana Chambers posted six kills on a .625 hitting percentage. Senior Damaris Gomez tallied six kills and one block, while classmate Kaitlyn Chell led the Lions with 15 digs. First-year Paola Mejias paced the Lions offense in the first match with 27 assists and added 11 digs plus four kills.
 
Albright jumped on the Colonels early in the first set as they went up 8-2 behind four kills. Wilkes struck back with four-straight points to cut the lead down to 8-6 before the Lions countered with three-straight kills to go up 11-6. The Colonels won eight of the next 10 points to take the first lead of the match at 14-13, but Albright slammed the door on the rally by winning nine-straight points to take a commanding 22-14 lead in the first set. Wilkes tried to make one more rally by winning seven of the next nine points to make it a 24-21 contest. However, a kill from first-year Rhianna Betley stopped any momentum the Colonels had and gave the Lions a 1-0 lead.
 
Wilkes started strong in the second set as they went up 4-1, but the Lions responded with four-straight points to take a 5-4 lead. The Colonels bounced back with five-straight points to go up 9-5 on the Lions before Albright countered by winning seven of the next eight points to take a 12-10 lead. The Lions built their lead up to 16-11 until the Colonels won five-straight points to tie the second set at 16. Albright took the lead back and went up 22-19 following a Wilkes error, and closed out the second set with three-straight points following a Colonels point.
 
The teams went back and forth in the first portion of the third set as neither team was able to gain a lead over two points. With the score tied at nine, the Lions reeled off five-straight points to go up 14-9, and eventually went up 17-11. Wilkes won four of the next five points to cut the Lions lead down to 18-15 before Albright closed out the set and the match at 25-16 by winning seven of the next eight points.
 
Following a short break, the teams returned to the floor for the second match. The first set went back and forth to start before the Colonels were able to work their lead up to 10-7. Albright responded by taking six of the next seven points to take a 13-11 advantage following a kill from Chambers. The Lions went up 18-15 before the Colonels struck back with four-straight points to take a 19-18 lead. Albright pulled within 22-21 after a Chambers kill, but would get no closer as the Colonels took the first set 25-22.
 
Albright started strong in the second set as they went up 6-2 early, but the Colonels struck back by winning six of the next seven points to go up 8-7. Albright was able to take the lead back at 11-10 following an ace from Chell until Wilkes won five of the next six points to go up 15-12. A kill from Franklin pulled the Lions within two points at 15-13, but Wilkes took command of the second set with seven-straight points to go up 22-13. The Colonels closed out the second set by winning three of the next five points.
 
WIleks set the tone in the third set as they jumped out to a 6-2 lead behind four Lion errors. Albright pulled within two points at 8-6 before the Colonels won three-straight points to go up 11-6. Back-to-back kills from Betley got the Lions back within three points at 12-9, but the Colonels reeled off five-straight points to take a 17-9 advantage. Albright would get no closer than seven points in the remainder of the third set as the Colonels won the third set, 25-16.
 
Franklin once again led the Lions in kills with seven, posted a .417 hitting percentage, and added four blocks. Betley and Hampton each posted four kills while Chell led the Lions again with 11 digs. Mejias posted 22 assists, six digs, and three kills in the loss.
 
The Lions will return to action on Monday, October 4^th as they will host Cairn in non-conference action at 7 p.m