Lady Roaring Lions finish third at USCAA tourney
Penn State University, The Eberly Campus, has established itself to again be an elite women鈥檚 volleyball program under second-year coach Sam Swetz, with plenty of help from Carmichaels graduate Jadyn Barnish.
One year after falling in the PSUAC final, the Lady Roaring Lions reclaimed the conference title this season for the ninth time in the last 11 years, and advanced to this weekend鈥檚 USCAA Division II National Volleyball Championship.
Fayette earned a third-place overall finish at the tournament with a 3-0 sweep of the University of Cincinnati Clermont College on Saturday morning at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
It was the fourth meeting between the two schools as they split during the regular season and the Cougars won their third match-up on Friday, 3-0, in USCAA pool play.
Overall, the Roaring Lions went 2-2 in Virginia Beach to finish the season with an overall record of 23-9.
鈥淎ll I can say is what a ride,鈥� Swetz said. 鈥淕oing from nine girls (eight by the end of the season due to injury) and second in the PSUAC last fall to 15 girls on the roster and third in the nation for the USCAA this year is absolutely an amazing accomplishment.鈥�
鈥滻 can鈥檛 believe we are the first team in PSUAC and Fayette history to advance to the final four.鈥�
Barnish had a huge impact for Fayette in her freshman season. She was named USCAA All-American Second Team, was third in the country in assists and second in assists per set.
鈥淚t is such an honor to be recognized alongside my incredibly talented teammates,鈥� Barnish said. 鈥淲e have all worked so hard this season. All of my hard work has paid off and I could not be more honored and I would like to thank my coaches and teammates for pushing me along the way.鈥�
Barnish鈥檚 teammate and Laurel Highlands graduate Siteri Tale was named the USCAA National Player of the Year and All-American First Team.
The scores in Saturday鈥檚 sweep over the top-seeded Cougars were 25-20, 25-12 and 25-23.
Fayette got contributions from seemingly everyone in its season finale.
Barnish led the Roaring Lionw with 24 assists, Tale totaled 13 kills, two blocks and three block assists, and Albert Gallatin graduate Michaela Hall recorded 15 digs.
Yough graduate Morgan Pytlak鈥檚 kill on an assist from Barnish closed out the first set for Swetz鈥� squad, which then jumped out to a 12-1 lead in the second set in cruising to a 2-0 advantage.
Fayette led 23-22 in the third set when Chanel Porter came up with a kill set up by Brownsville graduate Kyonte Martin. Porter then served for the match-clinching point which resulted in a Cougars attack error to end it.
鈥淲e have played UCC four times this year and the team was completely ready to show them who we are when they found out they were playing them for third place,鈥� said Swetz, who is a Ringgold graduate.
Last Friday, the Roaring Lions won their second match of pool play before falling in the semifinals. Fayette swept past Paul Smith鈥檚 College, 3-0, before losing to Johnson & Wales University (Charlotte, N.C.), 3-0.
Fayette topped PSC by scores of 25-11, 25-23 and 25-12. Tale led the Roaring Lions with 10 kills and seven digs in the win. Madison Knight followed with eight kills and Martin added seven kills and three service aces.
Also contributing in the win were Barnish with 30 assists and Porter with 11 digs and six service aces.
Fayette then fell to JWU by scores of 25-20, 25-23 and 25-16. Siteri had eight kills, eight digs and three blocks, and Barnish conriburted 20 assists and eight digs.