READING, Pa. – The Albright women's volleyball team closed out its 2021 home regular season slate with a straight set defeat at the hands of Widener on Tuesday night at the Bollman Center in MAC Commonwealth play.
With the loss, the Lions drop to 5-10 overall and 1-6 in MAC Commonwealth play as they celebrated their five seniors prior to the contest. Meanwhile, the Pride improved to 19-8 overall and 4-3 in conference play.
A pair of first-years led the way in kills for the Lions as
Sophie Hampton and
Rhianna Betley each posted seven. Betley also added five digs and two blocks against the Pride. Senior
Grace Serafin posted five kills while classmate
Kaitlyn Chell recorded a game-high 23 digs. First-year
Paola Mejias paced the Lions offense with a game-high 18 assists and added six digs along with two kills.
Widener started strong in the first set as they jumped out to an early 7-2 lead behind taking advantage of Lions errors. The Pride won five of the next six points after the Lions won back-to-back points to extend their lead to 12-5. Albright took four of the next six points to cut the Pride lead down to 14-10, but the Pride responded by winning seven-straight points, and went up 21-10. Widener closed the first set out by winning three-straight points to take the first set at 25-13.
The Pride once again jumped out to an early advantage as they won the first five points of the second set. Albright stormed back by winning 10 of the next 11 points to go up 10-6 in the second set. The Lions found themselves up 13-10 after some back and forth action before the Pride went back ahead after winning five-straight points. Each team won three-straight points to put the Pride up 18-16 and the Lions were able to pull within one point at 20-19. However, Widener closed the set out by taking five of the next seven points to win 25-21.
A slow start from the Lions in the third set aided the Pride to grab an early 6-2 lead. Widener was able to extend its lead out to 12-5 before Albright rallied by winning seven of the next 10 points to cut the deficit down to 15-12. Widener responded by taking five of the next seven points to go up 20-14 in the third set. The Lions made one last rally by winning three-straight points, but the Pride closed the match out by winning the final five points.
Carly Venit led the Pride with a game-high eight kills and a strong .429 hitting percentage. Shelby Motz added seven kills and seven digs while Megan Barthol paced the offense with 16 assists. Madeline Dutterer recorded a team-high 19 digs on defense.
The Lions will return to action on Thursday, October 28th as they will close the regular season out against Messiah at 7 p.m.
