Lebanon Valley def. Penn State Altoona 3-0 (25-9, 26-24, 25-16)

LVC Starters
Smeltz (L), Sides, Shelly, Attieh, Class, Burnheimer, Sangrey

Altoona Starters
Kiser (L), Bryan, Cassaday, Cannistraci, Bristol, Moran, Taddei

How It Happened
Lebanon Valley's volleyball squad opened up its annual Dutchmen Quad by blanking Penn State Altoona 3-0 on Friday night inside Sorrentino Gymnasium in LVC's 2018 home opener. The Dutchmen improved to 2-4, while the Lions fell to 1-6.

LVC dominated the opening set and jumped out to an early 7-1 lead, which led Altoona to burn its first timeout. After the Lions made it 8-2, the Dutchmen impressively rattled off 10 consecutive points to take a commanding 18-2 advantage. With LVC ahead 23-9, a kill by Jess Attieh and an Altoona attack error clinched the first set for the Dutchmen at 25-9.

In the middle set, LVC carried over its first-set momentum in the early going and scored the set's first five points, capped by an Attieh kill. The Lions, however, wouldn't go away quiet and answered with a 4-0 spurt to come to within one at 5-4. Later, with Altoona head 14-12, a service error from the Lions, followed by a Mikiah Sangrey service ace, evened the set at 14-14. From there, the Lions went on a 5-2 run to take a 19-16 lead, but LVC responded with three consecutive tallies, which included a pair of kills by Amanda Sides, to tie things up again. The set of runs continued when Altoona scored five straight to take a 24-19 advantage, but the Dutchmen finished off the Lions in the second set in style by scoring the set's final seven points to take it 26-24 and go up 2-0 in the match.

For the most part, the third and final set was back-and-forth LVC opened up a four-point lead at 12-9. From there, a critical 4-0 spurt by the Dutchmen proved to be the difference. The Lions recorded three errors in the run, followed by Alexa Pattinson's service ace that put LVC ahead 16-9. Down the stretch, the Lions came to within seven at 22-17, but on match point, Attieh ended the match with a kill to seal the set (25-16) and the match (3-0).

Inside the Numbers
 - Attieh stuffed the stat sheet yet again, going for a 14 kills at a .632 clip.
 - Sides finished with seven kills, seven digs, and three service aces.
 - Reily Shelly chipped in six kills and six digs for the Dutchmen.
 - Emily Smeltz led the way in digs with eight.
 - Jensen Burnheimer registered a team-high 18 assists, while Erin Koons added 10.
 - Reina Eckman came off the bench and picked up three kills on three attacks.
 - For the Lions, Emily Bryan led the way offensive with six kills, while Kaitlin Cassaday and Kelsey Bristol chipped in five apiece.

Who's Next?
The second and final day of the 2018 Dutchmen Quad is tomorrow, with LVC taking on Penn State Berks at 11 a.m., followed by Franklin & Marshall at 2 p.m.

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