La Plume, Pa. – Keystone College cruised to a three-set sweep over visiting Rosemont College on Saturday afternoon to celebrate Senior Day in style in a Colonial States Athletic Conference volleyball match in the Gambal Athletic Center. The Giants, who will be the #2 seed in next week's CSAC playoffs, will take a 20-9 overall record and 10-1 CSAC record into the postseason tournament after notching their eighth-straight win and 15
th sweep of the fall.
Prior to Saturday's match, Keystone honored the program's two seniors,
Dana Carey (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) and
Hannah Zuchowski (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro Area).
Keystone started off slow on Saturday, but fought back to win the first set, 25-12. The Giants built a 2-0 advantage with a 25-15 decision in game two before rounding out the sweep with a 25-13 win in the third frame.
Keystone served up 17 aces on the day, led by four apiece from Carey and
Victoria Homfeld (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge).
Malley Bowen (Owego, N.Y./Tioga Central) had three aces while Zuchowski and
Pamela Heitman (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) added two aces each.
The Giants, who hit .212 on the day, was paced by
Amanda Hardy (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock)'s .600 hitting percentage as the freshman had seven kills on 10 attacks.
Taylor Beatty (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) hit .571 with five kills on seven attacks while Zuchowski recorded a match-high 11 kills in the win.
Bowen dished out 14 assists in the win while
Sydney Binkley (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) totaled 12 helpers on the afternoon.
Hardy led the squad with two blocks while Homfeld, Bowen, and
Maddie Roat (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) each picked up three digs apiece for the hosts.
Rosemont (1-22, 1-10 CSAC) posted a .023 hitting percent in the loss and was led by Kealohilani Naone-Carter's four-kill, six-dig effort. Leilani Naone-Carter had six assists and a match-high five blocks.
Keystone will host a CSAC semifinal match next Thursday starting at 7:00 p.m. in the Gambal Athletic Center. The Giants' opponent will be determined by the results of Tuesday night's first round matchups.
#3 Neumann University hosts #6 Immaculata University while #4 Marywood University hosts #5 Notre Dame of Maryland University in the first round action. Top-seeded Cabrini University will host the lowest remaining seed in Thursday's other semifinal match.
The two semifinal winners will meet next Saturday at the site of the highest remaining seed for the CSAC championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.