A-K Valley campus clippings: PSNK women's basketball officially returns

Penn State New Kensington’s revived women’s basketball program is officially off the ground.

The Local Lions played their first game since being reintroduced Monday, losing 87-22 to Penn State Greater Allegheny.

PSNK, which brought back the program in February 2018, hired coach Rich Marshall, a 25-year coaching veteran, earlier this month. The eight-player roster is comprises all Alle-Kiski Valley graduates: seniors Erika Finn (Burrell), Alyssa Slancauskas (Cheswick Christian), Becca Wilhelm (Leechburg) and Brittney Wolford (Burrell); sophomore Calle Zmenkowski (Fox Chapel); and freshmen Hannah Berry (Leechburg), Sarah Heavner (Kiski Area) and Adda McCormick (Freeport).

The Local Lions visited Penn State Fayette on Wednesday and will host Penn State Hazleton on Feb. 2.

St. Francis (Pa.): Senior Courtney Zezza (Plum) is nearing the school blocks record after surpassing the 260 mark over the past week. Zezza had five blocks in a 73-62 loss at Central Connecticut State, then added another in a 66-63 loss to Bryant. She has 261 blocks in her career, 17 shy of the program record held by Cheril Meier.

Saint Vincent: Junior Kayla Slovenec (Fox Chapel) scored a game-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the Bearcats’ 82-58 win over Chatham. Slovenec made three 3-pointers.

Swimming and diving

Chatham: Sophomore Mallory Marzolf (Deer Lakes) was named Presidents’ Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Week after four first-place finishes in a 136-126 win over Saint Vincent. Marzolf tied for the conference’s best mark in the 200 freestyle this season with a swim of 1 minute, 57.34 seconds. She also won the 50 free in 25.10 and the 200 back in 2:13.43 and was a part of the first-place 200 medley relay, which finished in 1:54.74. Senior Iris Marzolf (Deer Lakes) won the 100 and 200 breaststroke individually, clocking in at 1:11.96 and 2:35.78, respectively.

Clarion: Junior Letizia Collini (Kiski Area) helped the Golden Eagles earn a dual win over Allegheny. She placed first in the 100 freestyle in 55.02 seconds and was part of the winning 200 medley relay.

Track and field

Washington & Jefferson: Freshman Naomi Hanna (Burrell) was named PAC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week after tying for 38th place in the weight throw at the Youngstown State College Invitational. Her throw of 36 feet, 5 1/2 inches ranks third in the PAC this season. Sophomore Jack Ryan (Burrell) placed fourth in the 60-meter dash at the meet, clocking in at 7.201 seconds.

Men’s volleyball

Penn State: Freshman Cal Fisher (Riverview) recorded back-to-back matches of double-digit kills as the Nittany Lions split matches with No. 4 BYU and St. Francis (Pa.). Fisher came on in reserve after two starters suffered injuries against BYU, getting 10 kills, nine digs and five blocks in the 3-2 loss. The freshman followed that with 10 kills, five digs and three blocks in the 3-1 win over St. Francis.

Wrestling

Seton Hill: Junior Damon Greenwald (Burrell) helped the Griffins earn a 27-18 victory over No. 1 UNC Pembroke at the Kutztown Duals with a 6-5 victory over Faris Teia in their 174-pound bout.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.