READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions women's volleyball team saw its rally from a two sets to none deficit fall short as they were defeated 3-1 (23-25, 16-25, 25-19, 27-29) by Penn State Berks in non-conference action on Monday night.
 
With the loss, the Lions drop to 3-2 overall on the season. Meanwhile the Nittany Lions improve their record to 6-6 overall.
 
Senior Damaris Gomez led the Lions offense with a team-high 10 kills and posted five digs and four blocks. First-year Rhianna Betley recorded a season-high nine kills, seven digs, and two blocks, while senior Brooke Franklin added eight kills and three aces. First-year Paola Mejias paced the offense with 34 assists and led the team with a team-high 18 digs.
 
Albright started strong in the first set as they won the first three points to go up 3-0. The Nittany Lions responded by taking eight of the next 11 points to go up 8-5 before Albright responded tie the first set up at nine following an ace from junior Shelby Cheuvront. Berks went back up three points at 13-10 behind three kills before the Lions won seven of the next nine points to take the lead back at 17-15. The Nittany Lions struck back by winning seven of the next eight points to go up 22-18 with five of the points coming from kills. Albright rallied to win four-straight points to tie the first set up at 22 and forced Berks to take timeout. However, the Nittany Lions closed the first set out by taking three of the final four points.
 
The Nittany Lions took the first advantage in the second set at 3-1 before Albright responded to take a 7-6 lead following a kill from Gomez. Berks then won nine of the next 11 points to go up 15-6 behind taking advantage of five Albright errors. The Lions were able to win nine of the next 11 points of their own to pull within two points at 17-15, but the Nittany Lions pulled away by winning eight of the final nine points to close out set two and go up 2-0 in the match. Each team traded points to start the third set until the Lions reeled off eight-straight points to go up 11-4 after being down 4-3. Albright was able to maintain control of the third set as Berks would get no closer than four points in the rest of the set. The Lions pulled away from Berks to force a fourth set as they out-hit the Nittany Lions .161 to -0.29.
 
Each team was unable to pull away from the other in the first part of the fourth set as the lead never grew past two for either side. With Berks leading 11-10, Albright reeled off six-straight points to go up 16-11. The Lions continued the run by winning four of the next six points to go up 20-13 and forced the Nittany Lions into a timeout. Out of the timeout, Berks reeled off six-straight point of their own to pull within one points at 20-19. Albright went up 22-20 following a kill from junior Grace Andrefski before Berks won three-straight points to go up 23-22. The Lions then won three of the next four points to go up 25-24 and needed just one more point to force a fifth set. Albright was unable to win the point but had another chance with the score at 27-26. Unfortunately for the Lions, Berks won three-straight points to win the match in four sets.
 
The Nittany Lions were led by three players in double-figures with kills as Sarah Nichols recorded 14 kills to lead everyone on the floor. Cassie Shoupe added 12 kills and Makenzie Shoop posted 11 kills while Julia Rathsam paced the Berks offense with 41 assists.
 
The Lions will return to action on Wednesday, September 22nd as they will travel to face Eastern at 7 p.m. in MAC Commonwealth play.