LA PLUME, PA- Aliya Noriega (Anchorage, AK/West Anchorage) and Madison Woods (Camrose, Alberta, Canada/Ecole Camrose Composite) each recorded 11 kills, while Anna Johnson (Niles, MI/Niles) finished with a double-double as the Keystone College women's volleyball team pushed Delaware Valley University to five sets Friday evening at the Gambal Athletic Center.
The Giants twice battled back to even the match, winning the second and fourth sets before Delaware Valley secured the deciding frame. Keystone fell 3-2 by set scores of 17-25, 26-24, 14-25, 25-17 and 6-15 in the nonconference contest.
Noriega led Keystone's attack with a .346 hitting percentage, putting away 11 kills with just two errors on 26 attempts. She added a solo block and finished with a team-high 12 points. Woods matched Noriega's kill total and collected 10 digs for a double-double of her own.
Johnson directed the offense with 30 assists and led the Giants defensively with 13 digs. She also contributed three kills without an attack error and added a service ace.
After Delaware Valley took the opening set, Keystone answered in a tightly contested second frame that featured 18 ties and five lead changes. The Giants totaled 13 kills in the set and edged the Aggies 26-24 to pull even at one set apiece.
Delaware Valley regained the match lead with a 25-14 victory in the third, but Keystone responded with its strongest offensive set of the evening. The Giants hit .220 in the fourth, recording 13 kills against four errors on 41 attempts. Keystone also held Delaware Valley to a .000 hitting percentage in the frame, earning a 25-17 victory to force a fifth set.
The deciding set included two ties and two lead changes, but Delaware Valley finished with a 15-6 win to close out the match.
Nakaya Cridge (New Castle, IN/South Henry School Corporation) and Isabella Buonopane (Wake Forest, N.C./Archbishop Williams) each supplied six kills for Keystone. Cridge added two service aces and three block assists, while Buonopane contributed two digs and a block assist. Kayjanai Gatlin (San Bernardino, CA/Rialto) finished with three kills and three total blocks, including a team-best two solo stops.
The Giants received contributions throughout the back row. Taylor Stephenson (Duryea, PA/Pittston Area) and Naema Alatorre (Brownsville, TX/Idea Frontier) each collected 10 digs, giving Keystone five players in double figures alongside Johnson, Woods and Delaware Valley's defensive counterparts. Nat Reyes (Lamont, CA/Arvin) added eight digs, while Hannah Ely (Wyalusing, PA/Wyalusing Valley Jr./Sr.) recorded seven digs, two kills, an assist and a block assist.
Sydney Frasier (Loveland, CO/Thompson Valley) matched Cridge with two service aces. Alatorre and Chloe Ibarra (Denver, CO/Northglenn) each added an ace as Keystone finished with seven on the evening.
As a team, the Giants totaled 42 kills, 32 assists, 63 digs and six blocks. Their two set victories each featured 13 kills, with Keystone improving its hitting percentage from .170 in the second to .220 in the fourth.
Keystone jumps right back into action tomorrow as the team celebrates their lone senior, Hannah Ely (Wyalusing, PA/Wyalusing Valley Jr./Sr.), on senior day against Notre Dame of Maryland University and York College (NY.) at home.
