NCAA D2 WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

NCAA Mountain East Conference Celebrates Senior Night at Point Park University

Senior Night Photos

Match Action Photos

Article & Post-Match Quotes:

Point Park Falls to West Virginia State in Straight Sets at Student Center Gym

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Point Park University women's volleyball returned to action on Saturday afternoon at the Student Center Gym, dropping a hard-fought Mountain East Conference matchup to West Virginia State University by a final score of 3-0.

With the result, the Pioneers move to 6-14 overall and 3-7 in MEC play, while West Virginia State improves to 10-10 overall and 6-4 in the conference.

Match Breakdown:

The visiting Yellow Jackets controlled the tempo early, taking the opening sets 25-18 and 25-14. Point Park mounted a strong offensive push in the third set, battling point-for-point before narrowly falling 25-22.

Set 1: West Virginia State 25,
Point Park 18
Set 2: West Virginia State 25,
Point Park 14
Set 3: West Virginia State 25,
Point Park 22

Team Comparison:

Kills: West Virginia State 46,
Point Park 28
Service Aces: Tied, 6-6
Blocks: Point Park 5,
West Virginia State 3
Assists: West Virginia State 45,
Point Park 26
Digs: West Virginia State 47,
Point Park 36

Individual Game Leaders:

Point Park Pioneers

Kills: Nicole Reasbeck (8), Patricia Calero-Irizarry (6), Savannah Kitchen (5)
Assists: Marianna Oyola-Rivera (21), Nicole Reasbeck (2), Brooke Bednarski (2)
Digs: Mia Arndt (12), Nicole Reasbeck (5), Marianna Oyola-Rivera (5)
Service Aces: Alexa Arnold (3), Te'Jah Montgomery (3)
Blocks: Marianna Oyola-Rivera (3), Ece Cetin (2), Patricia Calero-Irizarry (2)

West Virginia State Yellow Jackets

Kills: Maya Vilmar (12), Deniz Akgul (10), Carmen Perez (9)
Assists: Kelsey McKeehan (22), Audrey Buck (19)
Digs: Lilly Adkins (14), Carmen Perez (9), Audrey Buck (6)
Service Aces: Audrey Buck (3), Kelsey McKeehan (2), Klela Sanger (1)
Blocks: Marcelina Pyka (2), Carmen Perez (1), Inka Susanna Oksanen (1)

Match attendance was recorded at 250 spectators.

Post-Match Interview with Point Park Head Coach

"Question:" "All right, coach, walk us through the during the match and how you're going to get your team ready for your upcoming opponents?"

Coach's Response Summary:

Game Plan & Execution: The team had scouted the opponent's offense and defense, focusing on improving first-contact ball control, establishing the middle, and pushing to the pins to keep the opponent out of system.
Early Challenges: In the first set, passing was off and the team was back on its heels, preventing clean offense generation. The staff pushed to mix things up, create offense, and utilize all areas of the court.
Rhythm & Energy: After some mistrust in the second set, the team generated better energy in the third set, found their rhythm late in the match, and focused on generating offense.
Looking Ahead: The coach emphasized that defense and serve receive remain strong, but the team needs to work on finding spots on the court, improving hand contact, and playing with grit.

Senior Night Reflections:

Leadership & Resilience: The coach expressed deep pride in the seniors for trusting the process under a new coaching staff, leading with determination and grit, and building team culture.

Post-Match Interview:

Point Park University #15

Q: "Our next opponent is Frostburg on Tuesday. We actually need to beat them to make it to the MEC playoffs. I think we have a lot of grit and a lot of good opportunity to come in, take the team. We went to five with them last time. I think we definitely have the potential to beat them. What happened in the game today? I think a lot of the emotion from Senior Night and just like the abundance of things kind of messed with our play a little bit, but I'm proud of the girls for picking it up at the end of the game, showed that we're not just going to roll over and let a team stomp on us. So yeah, I was really proud of how we executed at the end of the game."

Q: "How's that feel to graduate this year?"

A: "So I'm actually graduating early, so I'll be done in December rather than spring. So even that is just a big turn of events, you know, going from being a student-athlete just to like immediately going into like what they say the real world is. And I have to do that a little sooner than everyone. It's a little bittersweet. I'm definitely going to miss playing with the girls and like being here, but I am excited for the next chapter of like what's to come after graduation."

Post-Match Interview:

Visiting Coach

Q: "Coach, you did an awesome game. What was your thought going in there and how are you going to be prepared for your next opponent?"

A: "Yeah, so we knew coming in that there

was a lot of external factors, right?

If it's their Senior Night, or on a winning

streak, they've been playing pretty well,

stringing some matches, some wins

together.

We knew that this was a small environment

and it was going to be crazy, and it can get

really interpersonal. So we talked about

focusing on internal factors, because if we

focus on external factors, then we're

comparable. If we focus on internal factors,

then we're on our own personality. I thought

that we did a really, really great job. Our

middles did a great job at holding their

middle true for a lot of our right side production.

We have a combined 14 kill power right side

alone. I thought that they did a really good

job on their block.

They were physical in their block,

they were relentless in defense, and they

were able to battle back. That's been a

struggle for us this year is we make

locking teams look better than they are

because we're just really young in a lot of

these situations, and we have trouble points

scoring in a lot of these situations.

So our production tonight was impressive.

I thought we received really well, we served

efficiently and tough.

Overall, really happy coming away with two

wins on the weekend, putting us at a clean

slate for the rest of the conference to see what we can do."