The Elizabethtown College women’s volleyball team faced off in a doubleheader against Penn State Berks. The Blue Jays had the game rescheduled from an away game to one held at Thompson Gym over the weekend.
The Blue Jays started off slow, getting initially outscored in the start of the first set 11-1. Etown found some ground in the middle of the set with junior outside hitter Lucy Stanek picking up the first kill of the game for the Blue Jays. Etown followed up the initial score with kills from senior defensive specialist Leah Gormley and senior setter Marah Glenn.
When the Blue Jays were down by seven points, enter first-year setter Zoey Henning, who recorded six straight service aces for the Blue Jays, with all of the serves being unstoppable by the Nittany Lions.
The magical string of aces were cut short as a service error from Henning ended her time serving, however, she gave the Blue Jays the lead in the set 18-17. Stanek and junior outside hitter Bailey McFeaters picked up a couple of more kills as Etown overcame their initial deficit 25-20.
The Blue Jays were able to find their rhythm in the second set, with Henning picking up where she left off with back to back service aces. As the Blue Jays surged forward, Stanek picked six kills in the span of nine points by Etown. The Blue Jays forced a couple of attacking errors by the Falcons to win the second set 25-13.
Etown turned the first set score on its head as the Blue Jays were able to form a 7-1 lead within the first eight points of the set. Etown was able to form a large rally as they cruised to another 25-13 set win, sweeping Penn State Berks in game one.
The Blue Jays were able to repeat what they did in game one, initially falling behind in set one, before clawing back to a 25-21 victory. McFeaters was the driving force for the Blue Jays, killing four balls in the set. Henning picked up another ace and sophomore setter Bailey Doherty ended the second set with an ace, winning a tight one 26-24.
Etown took care of business in the third set, defeating the Nittany Lions 25-15 and sweeping Penn State in the second game 3-0. Stanek led the team in kills in game one with 13 kills and two blocks while Henning put together eight of the 14 kills by the Blue Jays. In game two, Henning added four aces while graduate middle blocker Kinsey Reuwer led Etown with 11 kills.
The Blue Jays move to 7-2 on the season and will face off against Marymount and Rowan in a tri-match on Sep 26 at home.
