Women’s Volleyball concludes 2023 season fourth in the nation at USCAA Championship

LEMONT FURNACE, Pa. --- Carlow University women's volleyball left it all out on the court in a 3-2 loss to Bay Path (Mass.) University in the USCAA Championship consolation game at Penn State Fayette Saturday morning.

The Celtics ended the year 13-16 overall and fourth in the entire nation after going 2-2 at the USCAA Championship tournament.

After defeating the Wildcats (13-13) in three straight sets Thursday, the Celtics faced a familiar challenge ahead. Bay Path took the first set, 25-20, and Carlow went ahead 2-1 after winning the next two sets by the same score. Bay Path secured the win with a narrow 25-23 win in the fourth set, and the teams battled to a win-by-two situation in the fifth set, where the Wildcats ended up with an 18-16 victory.

Rebecca Hess led Carlow with a double-double 20 kills and 11 digs in the effort. Alison Humberston added 11 kills, while Meghan Alexander contributed a double-double 25 assists and 15 digs.

Sarah Porter tallied five of Carlow's 13 service aces on the day.

Bay Path went ahead, 12-6, in the first set en route to a 25-20 win. Carlow won the next two sets by the same score.

Both teams tied the score and traded leads several times through the second set until a kill from Hayley Barry set off a 6-0 run for the Celtics that prompted a Bay Path timeout.

The Wildcats rallied to come within three points of tying the score, but Carlow returned from a timeout late in the game with a kill from Javonna Perkins to make the score 23-19. A Carlow service error returned the ball to Bay Path, but a subsequent attack error and a big kill from Hess ended the set in favor of the Celtics.

Carlow started the third set with a strong 10-4 advantage and did not allow the Wildcats any closer than a four-point difference the remainder of the set.

Ahead 2-1, Carlow once again traded leads with Bay Path early in the fourth set.

Trailing, 18-13, a kill from Humberston, three Bay Path errors and a service ace by Porter tied it up, 18-all.

The Wildcats went on a short run to gain a 24-19 advantage, but Carlow pressed on, trailing by two after an ace from Kelsey Sufak.

Taylor Claypoole came up with a big kill to cut the Wildcats' lead to one after a Bay Path timeout, but the Wildcats had the final word in a 25-23 fourth set win.

Down to the fifth and final set, neither team would back down in a battle that sent them into a win-by-two situation.

Carlow trailed, 9-6, after switching sides before Head Coach Julie Gaul took a timeout to regroup.

Perkins swung on a kill to kickstart a 5-2 run that gave Carlow the 12-11 advantage, but back-to-back kills by Anastasiya Tsetsko put Bay Path in the lead once again.

Both teams tied the score three more times, ending up tied 15-all before Barry and Perkins came up with a huge block to give the Celtics a 16-15 advantage.

Another kill from Tsetsko evened the score, and a Carlow error swung the game in Bay Path's favor.

The final blow was a big block assist by two Bay Path players to win the set and the match.

Tsetsko recorded a game-high 27 kills, and Mckenzie Labier posted six of Bay Path's 13 blocks.