ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Albright Lions volleyball team suffered a straight set loss (16-25, 14-25, 11-25) to Cedar Crest on Saturday morning in non-conference action.
With the loss, the Lions fall to 5-9 overall as they complete their non-conference schedule for the 2021 season. Meanwhile, the Falcons of the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) improve to 16-5 overall.
First-year
Sophie Hampton led the Lions with a team-high seven kills and posted two digs. First-year
Paola Mejias recorded four kills on six attacks, posted 11 digs, and paced the offense with 14 assists. First-year
Carly Bono posted a team-high 14 digs along with three kills as well.
Albright responded to an early 3-1 deficit in the first set to the Falcons by winning three-straight points to go up 4-3. Cedar Crest then won seven of the next nine points to go up 10-6 in the first set. The Falcons recorded three-straight aces to fuel the run. The Lions cut the deficit down to one point at 11-10 after winning three of the next four points, but the Falcons halted the rally by taking five of the next six points to go up 16-11. Albright countered with four-straight points to make it a 16-15 contest behind three kills, but the Falcons closed out the set by winning nine of the next 10 points.
The Lions started strong in the second set as they took an early 4-1 lead after opening with three-straight kills. Albright held a 6-4 lead until the Falcons won nine of the next 11 points to take a 13-6 lead in the second set. The Lions cut the Cedar Crest lead down to three at 14-11, but the Falcons dominated the rest of set as they closed it out with winning 11 of the next 14 points.
Cedar Crest came out on fire in the third set as they won the first nine points behind four kills and three aces. Albright ended the run by taking five of the next six points to cut the deficit down to five at 10-5. However, the Falcons responded by winning 10 of the next 11 points to take command of the set at 20-6 behind four kills and four aces. The Lions won three of the next four points to make it a 21-10 game in the third set before Cedar Crest closed the match out by winning four of the next five points.
The Falcons recorded 19 aces against the Lions and posted a .229 hitting percentage as a team. Maddison Minyo recorded a team-high 10 kills and added 16 digs in the win. Ava Grapsy registered a game-high 10 aces while posting 13 assists and eight kills. Talia Watson paced the offense with a game-high 19 assists.
Albright will return to action on Tuesday, October 26th as they will host Widener for senior night at 7 p.m.
