WAYNESBURG, Pa. – La Roche volleyball traveled to Waynesburg University on Saturday for a tri-match against a pair of PAC opponents. In the end, it was the opposition taking the victories against the Redhawks.
GAME ONE: Grove City 3 La Roche 1
Sets one and two would be difficult for La Roche, as the match score went to 2-0 in favor of Grove City with a pair of dominant victories, 25-12 and 25-11.
The Redhawks would bounce back in the third set, finally getting a rhythm and jumped ahead 10-4 in the early stages.
Despite the Wolverines coming back to make it just a two-point deficit of 14-12, La Roche never wavered and scored 11 of the final 17 points to make it a 2-1 match score with a 25-18 victory.
In set four, Grove City would storm out to a 10-3 lead and from that point, never allowed the red and white to come within five points, sealing the match with a 25-17 victory.
For the Redhawks, Kalli Grine led the offense with a 16 kill performance, hitting .353% in the match, while Estelle Winck dished out 29 assists.
On the defensive side, Kaci DePalma led the team with 15 digs, while Grine added three solo blocks and one block assist.
GAME TWO: Waynesburg 3 La Roche 2
In match two, La Roche held the early lead as the teams traded points, 8-7, but Waynesburg countered to take a 13-9 lead.
Still trailing the opening set, 16-13, the Redhawks would score 11 of the next 14 points to take a 24-19 lead, before closing out the victory, 25-22 to go ahead, 1-0.
Set two again was back and forth early, but after leading 11-8, the La Roche lead slipped away and then trailed 16-14.
Like set one, the Redhawks would do the exact same, scoring 11 of 14 points to close out the set, 25-19 and moved ahead, 2-0 in the match.
Despite the big lead for the red and white, Waynesburg dominated set three, storming ahead to a 19-9 lead and ultimately made the match, 2-1, winning 25-18.
In the fourth set, it was very even early, and by the midway point, La Roche turned things around, holding a 15-11 edge, then still held that five-point lead at 19-14.
The wheels would fall off for the Redhawks down the stretch, surrending an 11-2 run to the Yellow Jackets, falling 25-21, forcing a fifth set.
In the deciding set, La Roche would hold the 8-7 lead at the flip, but Waynesburg would take advantage of the change and scored eight of the final nine points to complete the comeback.
Olivia Sickmiller led the offense with a career best 13 kills in the second match, followed by eight from Megan Bologna and Aislyn Williams. Winck provided another 32 assists to lead that category.
DePalma on the defensive end had 19 digs, leading three players who ended in double figures, while Williams also finished with three solo blocks.
La Roche concludes its road trip on Wednesday, Oct. 1 when they travel to face Hilbert in non-conference action at 7 p.m.