Video Replay

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – After falling 14-25 in the first set, the Kutztown University women's volleyball team stormed back to take the final three 25-19, 25-23, 25-21 as it won its second straight match, defeating Mercyhurst on Friday night at Keystone Arena.
 
KU (5-18, 2-10 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) set new season-highs for a four-set match with 46 kills and 10 total blocks. After swinging .100 in the first set, the Golden Bears hit at least .243 in each of the final three to end the match with a .241 hitting percentage, its third-highest percentage of the season.
 
The day before Senior Day, senior Tori Wakelee (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) set a new career-best with 13 kills on .265 hitting, while fellow senior Zandria Zielinski (York, Pa./York Catholic) tied her career-high with seven total blocks to lead the defensive attack.
 
Brittney Moyer (Orwigsburg, Pa./Blue Mountain (Lock Haven)) led the offensive attack with a match-high 21 kills on .255 hitting, her fifth 20+ kill performance of the season, and tied her career-best with three total blocks.
 
Wakelee and Taylor Brown (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern) also had three blocks each.
 
Senior Anna Conti (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) led the match with 38 assists, while fellow senior Madison Brake (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) was two digs shy of a match-high with 18.
 
After Meryhurst (12-11, 4-8) ran away with the first, the final three sets were extremely competitive. Neither team led by more than three in the second until Kutztown went up 16-13. That was part of a 10-4 run that allowed the Maroon and Gold to pull away as Moyer provided two kills and Brown, Wakelee and Niki Carpenter (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion Area) each added one.

The two teams then traded seven lead changes through the first 23 points of the third set before Meryhurst scored five consecutive to go up 16-12. Slowly but surely, KU made its way back, until finally evening the score at 23. That was part of four unanswered points to close the set, with Moyer recording a kill to begin it before ending it with back-to-back service aces.
 
In similar fashion, Kutztown came from behind in the fourth to complete the comeback. As soon as Mercyhurst took its first two-point lead of the set, 16-14, the Golden Bears made their move, ending the match on an 11-5 surge. That included taking six of the final seven points. Trailing 19-20, Zielinski, Moyer and Wakelee all provided kills before a Sophie Kerschner (Clinton, N.J./North Hunterdon) service ace gave KU match-point, which it converted on a Laker error.
 
As mentioned, tomorrow, Oct. 29, will be Senior Day. Prior to the 1 p.m. match against Gannon in Keystone Arena, Kutztown will honor Wakelee, Zielinski, Brake, Conti and Rachael Picozzi (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton).