WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Tied at seven in the fifth and final set, first-year Alli Macensky (Galeton, Pa./Galeton Area) served up five straight points as the Lycoming College volleyball team were able to overcome a surging Wilkes University squad, posting a 3-2 (25-18, 25-22, 22-25, 14-25, 15-11) win to kick off Homecoming Weekend with the program's first Landmark Conference win at Lamade Gym on Friday, Oct. 6.
 
The six-point rally was paced by junior Arianna Santos (Oxford, Pa./Oxford Area), who posted two kills and a block during the six-point run. The Colonels (7-10 overall, 0-1 Landmark) cut the lead down to three points at 14-11, but junior Jessica Ahart (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown Area) tooled a kill that thankfully fell harmlessly out of bounds to give Lycoming (11-3 overall, 1-2 Landmark) its first win in the new conference, after spending its first 35 seasons as a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference.
 
Santos led the Warriors with nine kills and four blocks and both Ahart and junior Brynne Bisel (Julian, Pa./Bald Eagle Area) each had five kills. First-year Lindsay Heimlich (Bergen, N.Y./Mercy) finished with 16 assists and two aces and first-year Haley Balgavy (Warrenton, Va./Kettle Run) added nine assists, five aces and five digs. Junior Kendall Myers (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) added 17 digs and three aces and junior Ali Koval (Mansfield, Pa./North Penn-Mansfield) added 16 digs, an ace and a kill.
 
Sierra Hines led the Colonels with 15 kills and six blocks and Alexis Reedy posted 11 kills and six aces. Alexa Cassel had 37 assists and Ali Yordy posted 22 digs.
 
The Warriors won the first two sets while holding Wilkes to a .000 hitting percentage before Wilkes hit nearly .200 in the next two sets to post wins. In the fifth set, Wilkes again hit .000 while Lycoming slammed six kills down to take control and earn the win.
 
The Warriors wrap up their Homecoming Weekend slate of matches on Saturday, Oct. 7, when they host Moravian University in Landmark Conference action at 2 p.m. in Lamade Gym.