| Women's Volleyball |
Penn State Abington Women’s Volleyball finishes season 6-10 in the PSUAC
The Penn State Abington Women’s Volleyball team finished their season 9-19 overall and 6-10 in the PSUAC, under Head Coach Jamal Corbin. Although they didn’t qualify for the playoffs they finished the season strong winning 5 of their last 9 PSUAC matches, and posting a .500 record over their last 12 contests. Their last win came in the women’s first and only five set match of the season. After PS Abington dominated the opening set of the match, winning 25-6, they suddenly found themselves in a match, dropping a close second set 23-25. After a split of the next two sets, PS Abington regained the form they displayed in the opening set, and went on to close the match out in convincing fashion, taking the deciding fifth set by a score of 15 to 6, finally putting away a very resilient PS DuBois squad 3 sets to 2.
The Lady Lions of Abington are a young team, and were led by junior setter Megan Sawicki (St. Hubert’s / Philadelphia, PA) who accumulated 496 assists on the season, an average of 5.51 per set. Megan’s primary targets were two sophomores, outside hitters Jessica Kane (John W. Hallahan / Philadelphia, PA) and Lauren Connell (Archbishop Wood / Horsham, PA), who finished 1-2 in both kills and service aces. Kane paced the Lady Lions’ attack for the second year in a row, tallying 262 kills, an average of 2.91 K/set, to go along with 63 service aces (.873 pct and .70 SA/set), while Connell finished with 141 kills (1.57 K/set), and 59 service aces. Also chipping in with triple-digit kills (110), was sophomore middle blocker Danielle Regan (St. Hubert’s / Philadelphia, PA), who also led the team in hitting efficiency, with a .150 hitting percentage. On the defensive side of the ball, the team was led by sophomore libero Jennifer Lee (Cliffside / Cliffside, NJ), who accumulated 220 digs (2.65 D/set), with Kane not far behind at 2.22 D/set.
“We got off to a slow start, but I was pleased with how we were able to finish the season on a high note,” Corbin stated. “I know how heavy a toll it can take, both physically and emotionally, to have to play 28 matches in a span of just seven weeks.”
The team received a midseason boost, with the addition of [sophomore opposite hitter] Amanda Votta (Council Rock South / Holland, PA), who seemed to energize the team going into the second half of the season. She played in 51 games and combined for a total of 107 digs and 31 assists.
“We had a very demanding schedule, and they finished it out strong, fighting all the way to the end, which demonstrated a lot of character and determination.” Corbin adds, “of course we are a bit disappointed that we didn’t make it to the playoffs, but we grew as a team, winning two matches more than we did last season and finishing with a higher winning percentage as well.”
The growth was epitomized by the play this season of [sophomore middle blocker] Christina Fuentes (Lincoln / Philadelphia, PA). “You could see her improvement from the first day of practice in August, and I wasn’t surprised that she was able to increase her kill and dig totals.” Coach Corbin said. Fuentes finished the season with 38 kills and 40 digs.
Always with an optimistic eye on the future, Coach Corbin is looking forward to continued growth and even greater success in the 2009 season.
