The first match of the day was an American Mideast Conference contest with the Lady Pioneers of Point Park (21-7, 2-4 AMC). MVNU (25-7, 6-2 AMC) pulled out a hard-fought 28-26, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23 victory as junior middle hitter Jackie Albrecht (left) pounded 17 kills with three aces and 11 digs to lead the team. Senior right-side hitter Courtney Springer added 13 kills, four blocks, and 22 digs, while junior middle hitter Sarah Yutzy finished with 11 kills and eight blocks. Senior setter Kaylin Austen handed out 37 assists to go with 21 digs, and junior libero Caitlin Myles and freshman right-side hitter Kaylee Hewitt tallied 21 and 15 digs respectively.

“The match with Point Park was a good match between two good teams that we were fortunate to come out on top of,” said MVNU coach Paul Swanson. “We kept battling with them and were able to score points at the right time in order to pull out a couple of close wins in the second and fourth sets. Every conference win is a big win.”

After Point Park swept West Liberty 25-7, 25-14, 25-20, the Lady Cougars proceeded to sweep the Hilltoppers (3-16) by the scores of 25-12, 25-14, 25-16. Albrecht again led MVNU with 17 kills and four blocks, while senior outside hitter Julie Haumschild smashed eight kills. Myles and Hewitt posted 14 and 10 digs respectively with Myles serving up three aces, and Austen handed out 33 assists with two aces. Yutzy finished with three blocks, while freshman middle hitter Haley Nofziger pounded six kills.

“I was very pleased with our energy against West Liberty,” Swanson said. “It would be easy to just go through the motions after looking at their record or watching them lose in the match to Point Park. However, we played well and got production from everyone on the team. This was a good day of volleyball for us.”

The Lady Cougars will now be off until next Thursday when MVNU will travel to Carlow (Pa.) University for another AMC match that will start at 7:00 p.m.