ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Delaware Valley women's volleyball team traveled to Cedar Crest to face the Falcons and Gwynedd Mercy in a trimatch defeating Cedar Crest in a five-set thriller before dropping the match to the Griffins in three.
 
MATCH ONE VS. CEDAR CREST (3-2)
Set 1: 25-21
Set 2: 19-25
Set 3: 22-25
Set 4: 25 -21
Set 5: 15-17
A pair of errors and a kill from Kai Logan put the Aggies in an early advantage, but the Falcons quickly rallied taking a small lead before a kill from Monique Smith started DelVal on a 13-7 run for the 18-12 lead. Back-to-back kills from Smith created a five-point lead for the Aggies, 22-17, answered back with a 4-0 run from the Falcons to cut the advantage to just one, 22-21. A pair of errors and another kill from Smith sealed the deal handing the Aggies the win 25-21.
 
After an early lead, the Aggies went on to trail by six, 21-15, when a kill from Ariana Hernandez shifted the momentum pacing the Aggies on a 4-0 run to bring the deficit down to two, 21-19. The Falcons responded with a 4-0 run to take the set, 25-19.
 
Tied at eight, the Falcons used a 6-0 spurt to pull ahead of the Aggies. Smith went for the kill recording five straight to pace DelVal with a 10-3 comeback and two-point lead, 18-16. Cedar Crest maintained a 9-4 edge through the remainder of the set for the 25-22 victory.  
 
The teams went back and forth with neither able to pull ahead by more than a margin of three until a service ace, error and two kills pushed the Falcons to a six-point lead, 15-9. DelVal answered back with an 8-2 run to even the score, 17-17. After one short lead change, a kill from Hernandez kicked off a 7-1 run to win the set, 25-21.
 
DelVal fell behind by three early but remained vigilant, tying the score five times before a kill from Samantha Wilton and service ace from Mia Zadlo turned the tide in favor of the Aggies, 17-15.
 
MATCH TWO VS. GWYNEDD MERCY (0-3)
Set 1: 21-25
Set 2: 20-25
Set 3: 23-25
The Griffins jumped out to an early lead tallying up a seven-point lead twice before using a 7-2 run to create a double-digit gap, 20-10. Hernandez and Wilton began to chip away at the deficit, tallying four kills between the duo bringing the gap down to six, 21-15. With Madison Alexander in the back court on the serve the Aggies managed a 5-0 run to come within two points, 23-21. Gwynedd Mercy secured the final two points in the set for the 25-21 victory.
 
The Aggies fell behind early again trailing 10-6 before Hernandez and Wilton combined again for four unanswered points on one kill and three-straight service aces to tie the game, 10-10. The Griffins quickly regained the edge with the Aggies coming within two points before a 3-0 run from Gwynedd Mercy ended the set, 25-20.
 
DelVal came out strong in the third set, capitalizing on a series of errors and a service ace from Alexander to take an early 5-0 lead. The Aggies defense only gave up three points to the Griffins before Smith, Wilton and Alyssa Fink teamed up for a 4-0 run to increase the lead to three, 9-3. DelVal continued to maintain its edge, pulling ahead by nine before momentum shifted in favor of Gwynedd Mercy ended the match on a 15-4 run for the win, 25-23.
 
DelVal returns to action this Wednesday, Sep. 3 when the Aggies travel to Immaculata for a single match starting at 7 p.m.