For the Elizabethtown College women’s volleyball team, it was a very highly contested Landmark Conference matchup between themselves and the Lycoming College Warriors. The Blue Jays had just lost their last game against the #10 Juniata College Eagles;, however, they were hoping to keep that game as their only Landmark Conference loss.
Despite the loss in the last game, junior outside hitter Lucy Stanek had reached 100 career blocks, just after receiving her first Landmark Conference Athlete of the Week award for her performances over the past week.
Etown started the first set off strong, jumping out to a 6-1 off of aces from first-year defensive specialist Nikki Klages and sophomore libero Addy Reed. The initial lead was also accompanied by two kills from sophomore right side Aubrey Sullivan. Stanek got her first taste of the action by picking up back-to-back kills to give them an 8-2 lead.
Despite the initial efforts by the Warriors, Etown collected five straight points, brought to them by two kills from junior outside hitter Bailey McFeaters and two aces from first-year setter Zoey Henning. Lycoming was able to get back on their feet with five straight points, negating the damage that the Blue Jays had just done.
Although the lead narrowed down to five points, Etown put their foot on the gas to end the set with five straight points. Stanek was able to pick up an ace, while graduate middle blocker Kinsey Reuwer added two kills. Another kill by McFeaters ended the first set 25-15 in the Blue Jays’ favor.
Lycoming seemed to find their footing in the second set, jumping out to a 13-7 lead in the middle of the set after being down initially 7-6. The seven point swing from the Warriors gave them a commanding lead., however, Ttwo kills from Reuwer and one kill from both Stanek and McFeaters brought the Blue Jays back, down only one point.
Etown was able to tie the set up and with points being exchanged back and forth, the two sides went into extras in the set. Etown took a one point lead with the chance to end the set after two back to back attacking errors;, however, the Blue Jays committed two attacking errors of their own, giving Lycoming the advantage. After the game was once again deadlocked at 29, the Warriors were able to pick up the win in the set off of a bad set and a kill by their outside hitter to win 31-29.
The Blue Jays found themselves down again in the third set 17-12 after the Warriors came out of the break hot. Etown was able to get themselves back into the game after three kills from Stanek within the next four points.
A few attacking errors from the Warriors gave the Blue Jays a 20-19 lead. The lead was solidified by Reuwer who picked up a kill and sophomore defensive specialist Bailey Doherty racking up another ace for the Blue Jays. Lycoming committed another attacking error, giving Etown their second set win 25-22.
Lycoming started the fourth set ablaze, rocketing out to a 12-4 lead early in the set, with almost half of those points coming from attacking errors by the Blue Jays. Etown attempted to claw back at the deficit, with small runs brought to them from kills by Stanek and McFeaters, and three kills from Reuwer. Despite the efforts, the Blue Jays were tied at 2-2 in sets after falling to the Warriors in set four, 25-18.
Lycoming started the fifth set with momentum, jumping out to a 6-3 lead early;, however, Etown had an answer earlier than the previous set, with three kills coming from Stanek, Reuwer, and first-year middle blocker Tori Obarow, giving them a 6-6 tie.
Lycoming was able to rack up points in pairs while the Blue Jays struggled to find a string of points, with the lead ballooning to 12-8 as time was winding down for Etown. Obarow did the best she could, picking up two kills in the closing stages of the set;, however, the momentum was too strong as Lycoming picked up the 3-2 set victory after defeating Etown 15-11 in set five.
Stanek led the Blue Jays with 18 kills, including picking up kill number 1000 in her career, another milestone of many to come for this junior. Reuwer added 16 kills for Etown while McFeaters added 13 kills. Reuwer led the team in blocks with nine and in aces with two, tied with Doherty. Stanek led the team in digs with 14 while right side Marah Glenn and Henning both contributed 24 assists in the loss.
The Blue Jays dropped to 18-8 on the season and 5-2 in the conference, placing them third in the Landmark Conference standings to Juniata and Scranton University.
Etown will play their final two regular season matches at home on Oct. 30 against Drew University and on Oct. 31 in a tri-match against Scranton and Hood College.
They will play their final matches of the season on the road in Newark, New Jersey on Nov. 7 against Rutgers-Newark and St. Joseph’s University-Long Island.
