HOUGHTON, NY – In front of a packed house on Senior Night at the Nielsen Center, the Houghton Highlanders women's volleyball team closed out the regular season with their 20^th victory, 3-1, over the visiting Alfred State Pioneers.
 
Houghton notched 41 kills and 56 digs in another impressive effort on both offense and defense. 
 
The Highlanders rolled through the first set thanks to 13 kills and a .348 attack percentage, before snapping their 16-set winning streak in the second, 22-25.
 
Trailing, 20-17, in the crucial third set, an Alfred State service error gave the Highlanders a side-out before Ally Bittinger served four straight points to put Houghton up, 22-20.  The Pioneers battled back to go up, 23-22, before a Jaimee Glendenning kill tied the set again. 
 
A service error and an attack error by the Pioneers gave Houghton set-point, but a kill by Alfred State's Alyssa Fox tied the set, 25-25.  Another attack error by Alfred State put the Highlanders within a point and Brooke Lewandowski blocked the final Pioneer attack to put Houghton up, 2-1.
 
In the final set the Highlanders again began to click on all cylinders, turning in a .312 attack percentage while notching eight service aces.  
 
GAME VITALS
Score: Houghton – 3| Alfred State – 1
Records: Houghton: 20-4 | Alfred State: 9-13
Scores: 25-12, 22-25, 27-25, 25-15
Venue: The Nielsen Center, Houghton College | Attendance: 275

NOTABLE STATS
>> Unverdorben dished out 36 assists while three Highlanders (Lewandowski, 11, Glendenning, 9, and Bittinger, 9) collected at least nine kills apiece.
 
>> Four Highlanders recorded double-digit dig totals, including senior Morgan Potempa, who led the team with 12.
 
>> Fox finished with match-high totals in both kills (16) and digs (18) for Alfred State.
 
>> Houghton has now won six straight matches and 14 or their last 15 as they head into post-season play.  Their 20 victories are the most by a Highlander volleyball team since 2015, when they finished 20-11.  Houghton has not won more than 20 games since they finished 21-16 in 2002.
 
UP NEXT
With the conclusion of their regular season, Houghton will now prepare for the Empire 8 Conference Tournament.  The #2 Highlanders take on the #3 Nazareth Golden Flyers on Friday, November 8 at 7:30 p.m. at St. John Fisher College.
 
The winner of the Houghton – Nazareth matchup will play the winner of #1 St. John Fisher – #4 Elmira on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
 
Houghton defeated Nazareth on Saturday, October 12, 3-1.