On Saturday, Feb. 15, Elizabethtown College got the chance to avenge their early-season loss to Lancaster Bible Colleges. Etown came into the match after a 3-0 sweep of Wilson College the game prior and was feeling ready heading into the matchup against Lancaster Bible College. Initially, it was supposed to be a tri-match with Hood College however, they couldn’t make the event due to the inclement weather.
The first set started extremely strong, with a service ace and kills by first-year middle blocker Josh McCoy, giving the Blue Jays a 17-12 lead. The Chargers heated up and put together eight straight points, giving them a three-point lead. The Blue Jays climbed back, putting together a three-point rally, and tied the set at 21 a piece. Etown got the chance to win the set after leading 24-23, but Lancaster Bible was able to tie it up and force the first set to extras. Etown grabbed the lead with a huge kill by first-year outside hitter Arun Gopinath, but a rally by the Chargers tied the match and took the two-point lead, giving them the first set with a score of 28-26.
With scoring being back-and-forth, the second set was very even, with the lead not expanding more than three points for either side. Etown jumped out front with a 14-12 lead after clawing back from being down a few points, until the Chargers tacked on five straight points, putting themselves in the driver’s seat for the set. The Blue Jays rallied back, putting together four points through kills by Gopinath and junior middle hitter Cole Burkhardt. Lancaster Bible kept the game close, taking the second set to extras with a score of 24-24, however, this time the Blue Jays found their rhythm and won the set 26-24, tying the game at 1-1.
The Chargers stormed into the lead in the third set after two kills and a block highlighted those rallies. Etown didn’t back down from the initial lead, putting rallies together and tying the match at eight points each. Lancaster Bible put together another four-point run and gave themselves the lead, but the Blue Jays battled back, shrinking the lead to within one. The Chargers got a hold of the lead again, and this time didn’t let up, winning the second set 25-20 after halting the attempts to force extras by Etown.
Being down 2-1, the Blue Jays needed to find their footing in the fourth set to force the fifth and final set. Etown and the Chargers battled back and forth, but the Blue Jays held an early lead through the entire set, halting any progression made to cut the lead by Lancaster Bible. The Chargers tried to make a late comeback to force another set into extras, but Etown held on, winning 25-23 off a kill by first-year outside hitter Declan Keller.
First to 15 was the goal for both teams for the fifth and final set and the Blue Jays wanted to make sure they got there first, jumping ahead to a 3-1 lead. Lancaster Bible held the lead close and tied the game at 11 each through the first 22 points. Gopinath’s two kills and a block by McCoy gave the Blue Jays a chance to win, needing only one point to seal the victory. Junior libero Dustin Hagin set up first-year outside hitter Braydon Ambruster for the kill and a blocking error on the Chargers gave the Blue Jays a hard-fought victory, winning the set 15-13 and the game 3-2 to improve their record to 10-4. Gopinath led the team with 16 kills, followed by Keller with 14 and Ambruster with 12. Keller led the Blue Jays with five of the team’s 11 blocks in the match. Ambruster and senior libero Ben Robbins had two aces each en route to the team’s victory at home.
Etown will be on the road for the next week but will be back at home for their third conference matchup against Southern Virginia University on March 15 at 12 p.m., along with a match against Misericordia College at 4 p.m. for the tri-match at the Thompson Gymnasium.
