Lady Lions Season Full of Hard Work, Surprises

In a year where the Penn State Greater Allegheny Volleyball team captured their first trip to the Penn State University Athletic Confer-ence playoffs, the excitement continued when the volleyball team clinched the #5 seed in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Tournament. The announcement marks the first time in school history that PSUGA Volleyball has made the tournament adding to the accolades for this year’s team.

PSUGA had one of the best seasons in recent history, finishing the year 18-10 overall and 8-4 in PSUAC play. After just missing the Penn State University Athletic Conference playoffs in each of the last two seasons, they earned the number three seed this season and made the playoffs for the first time in five years.

PSUGA would unfortunately drop their quarterfinal match up with Penn State Beaver 3-, ending their playoff run. Clinching the number five seed in the National Tournament keeps their season alive as they compete for the USCAA national championship.

Leading the way on offense for PSUGA is sophomore Alix Ellis (Derry, PA./Derry Area HS) who earned PSUAC First-Team All-Conference Honors for the second season in a row. She leads PSUGA with 302 kills this season and is just 14 kills away from setting the single-season record.

Sueriah Timsah (Mesquite,TX./West Mesquite HS) has been a leader on both sides of the ball finishing second on the team in both kills and digs while serving as a team captain in her sophomore year. Ellis and Timsah have been set up by freshman Andrea Ghiloni (Granville, OH./Granville HS) who leads the PSUAC with 683 assist this season while Juliana Brill (Mount Jackson, VA./Stonewall Jackson HS) leads the defense with 367 digs.

The USCAA National Tournament features two different pools of teams with each team guaranteed to play two games in the tournament. The winner and runner-up from each pool will then move on to compete for the USCAA national championship on November 8th and November 9th.

The PSUGA volleyball team kicks off their USCAA tournament play on Thursday, November 7th when they face the University of Cincinnati Clermont at 9:30 a.m.

 

Story by Zack Zeigler, Sports Information Director, Penn State Greater Allegheny (zlz3@psu.edu) and photo by PSUGA Athletics