ALTOONA, Pa. – The Wilkes women's volleyball team were defeated by Penn State Altoona on Saturday afternoon, losing in straight sets (25-22, 25-17, 25-12) at Adler Arena.

Wilkes falls to 3-8 on the year while Altoona improves to 9-8 overall.

The Colonels held an early lead in the first set 9-8 with kills from five different Colonels, before a 9-4 scoring run by Altoona gave them a 17-13 lead. Despite two 4-0 runs by Wilkes, the Lions refused to relinquish the lead and took the first set 25-22.

With the score 9-6 Wilkes in the second set, a 5-0 Altoona run gave them an 11-9 lead. A 3-0 Colonel run with two kills by Kendra Kalp (Somerset, PA/Rockwood) swung the lead back in the visitors' favor 12-11, but the Lions responded by outscoring Wilkes 10-5 to take the second set.

The Lions charged out to an 11-3 lead early in the third set, but Wilkes showed some life with a 4-1 run capped by a Lauren Lokuta (Mountain Top, PA/Holy Redeemer) service ace to make the score 13-8 Altoona. An 8-0 run by the home team broke the set open and gave the Lions the set and match win.

Kalp led Wilkes on offense and defense with eight kills and 15 digs while Alexa Cassel (Mount Joy, PA/Lower Dauphin) dished out 22 assists.

Lia Simanski led Penn State Altoona with nine kills while Madelyn Rockwell had a team-high 14 assists. Defensively, Anna Batrus led with 13 digs.

The Colonels open Landmark Conference play in their next contest as they travel to face Susquehanna University for a 7:00 p.m. clash on Friday, October 4.