La Plume, Pa. – Keystone College earned a first round by in the upcoming Colonial States Athletic Conference volleyball playoffs by sweeping visiting Neumann University in three sets on Tuesday night in the Gambal Athletic Center. The Giants posted their first win over the Knights in eight matches to improve to 19-9 overall and 9-1 in conference play with their seventh straight win.
Keystone will likely be the #2 seed in next week's conference tournament, but could take over the #1 spot with a win over Rosemont College coupled with losses by league-leading Cabrini University to Clarks Summit University on Wednesday and Immaculata University on Friday. In either case, the Giants will host a CSAC semifinal next Thursday night against one of the winners of Tuesday's first round matchups. The #1 or #2 seed will also mark the highest postseason seed for the Giants since the program began competing at the NCAA Division III level.
Keystone opened the match with a 25-21 win in the opening set and took a two-games-to-none advantage with a 25-15 decision in the second set. The Giants then improved to 1-7 all-time against the Knights with another 25-15 victory in game three.
Keystone, which hit .277 as a team on Tuesday night, was led by
Hannah Zuchowski (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro Area), who put down a match-high 13 kills including the 1,500
th of her collegiate career. The senior hit .440 on the night and added 13 digs for a double-double.
Kristen Larkin (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) added eight kills,
Amanda Hardy (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) had seven kills, and
Taylor Beatty (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) contributed six kills in the win for the Giants, who received a match-leading 33 assists from
Malley Bowen (Owego, N.Y./Tioga Central).
Pamela Heitman (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) added 11 digs and three aces while
Dana Carey (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) served up a pair of aces in the victory.
Bowen, Hardy, and Beatty added two blocks apiece for Keystone, who picked up its 14
th three-set triumph of the fall.
Neumann (16-14, 8-2 CSAC), who is now locked in as the #3 seed in the CSAC playoffs, was paced by Melanie Malseed's nine kills. Rachel Cray dished out 22 assists while Hayley Glah led the Knights with 10 digs in the loss.
Keystone will close out the regular season on Saturday with a home match against Rosemont College. The Giants will honor the team's two seniors, Zuchowski and Carey, prior to the conference tilt which is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. in the Gambal Athletic Center.
