HAZLETON, Pa. – Delaware Valley women's volleyball seniors Emma Helverson and Grace Kane put up a combined 35 kills across two games to help the Aggies secure their first set of victories for the 2024 season. DelVal swept Penn College first in a quick 3-0 match before going on to defeat the host PSU Hazleton 3-1 on Saturday.
 
MATCH ONE VS. PENN COLLEGE (3-0)
The teams traded the first couple of points before Penn College used a 4-0 run to gain a two-point edge on the Aggies. The Wildcats managed to maintain their lead through the next few rallies until DelVal used a 5-0 spurt to flip the two-point lead in its favor, 9-7. A pair of errors allowed Penn College to tie it, but the Aggies maintained the 16-9 advantage through the rest of the set for the 25-18 win.
 
After a service ace from Penn College to start the second set, a kill from Gretta Schneider set the Aggies off on an early 7-0 run that saw two service aces from Helverson paired with a second kill from Schneider and a single attack from Victoria Tucker. Kane kept the momentum high with two more kills and two service aces over the next seven points to put DelVal ahead 14-5. The Aggies gave up just a single point before a 5-0 scoring run to build the lead up to 13, 19-6. Kills from the trio of Tucker, Helverson and Kane led Aggies to victory ending the set 25-11.
 
The third set saw two lead changes before a kill from Monique Smith started a 6-0 scoring run to put DelVal ahead 11-7. The Aggies then used a 5-0 run comprised of three service aces from newcomer Madison Alexander to increase the advantage to eight, 16-8. The Wildcats continued to trail by a margin of at least nine through the remainder of the set while DelVal put up 13 points to secure the 25-13 victory.
 
MATCH TWO VS. PSU HAZLETON (3-1)
An early 4-0 scoring run from Hazleton put the Aggies behind by five and kept them in chase throughout the remainder of the set. Back-to-back kills from Helverson and Cassandra Gloster put DelVal within two followed by another two straight attacks from Helverson and Kane to make it a single-point game, but a 5-1 run from Hazleton ensued to keep the lead out of reach for the Aggies. DelVal managed to put up just five more points in the set ultimately dropping it 25-18.
 
DelVal went on to mount a huge comeback in the second set outplaying Hazleton 21-7 with nine kills and five services aces. The deficit was too hard for PSU to overcome, only managing to put up three more points before the Aggies offense used a 4-1 run to secure the set 25-10.
 
The third set saw a tighter matchup. DelVal took an early lead, but PSU fought to keep the deficit down to just two points on two occasions before eventually using a short 2-0 run to cut it to a single-point, 10-9. A series of errors built up the edge for DelVal to four, 13-9, but the PSU offense quickly responded with a 4-0 run to even the score, 13-13. Another small 2-1 run for PSU saw the first lead change of the set. The Aggies offense adjusted quickly with an 11-4 run to end the set in favor of DelVal, 25-19.
 
The Aggies continued to dominate in the final set using an early 4-0 run to build a strong lead. PSU answered with a three-point run of their own, but once again DelVal maintained its advantage with four straight points. The teams continued to go back and forth with PSU maintaining a 7-4 edge to cut the deficit down to just two, 12-10. Kills from Smith, Helverson and Kane helped DelVal with a 6-1 run to increase the lead to seven, 18-11. DelVal finished things off with back-to-back service aces from Tucker to take the set 25-16.
 
The Aggies are back in action this Tuesday, Sep. 10 for their home opener against Centenary in James Work Gymnasium at 7 p.m.