The Elizabethtown College men’s volleyball team extended their winning streak to three games on Thursday, Feb. 8. The Blue Jays took the court and continued their dominance at home, taking the match three sets to one, moving the team to 6-3, including a 4-1 record in front of their home fans.
Etown dominated in almost every statistical category by the day’s end. Offensively, the team finished with 50 kills to Widener’s 37 and also earned seven aces. Second-year outside hitter Logan Smith led the way in kills with 14 and graduate student Alex Finch and fourth-year Nick Chapman were also forces to be reckoned with. Finch tallied 13 kills and Chapman finished with 10. Fourth-year Nate Seeger and third-year Ben Robbins were also threats with two aces each, a team high.
The Blue Jays were also ready for anything on the defensive end. With 51 digs, they did a tremendous job at keeping Widener’s attacks at bay. Second-year Dustin Hagin led the charge defensively, leading the team with 17 digs. Finch and Chapman played huge roles as well, turning back Widener’s opportunities with nine digs a piece.
It was a strong start for Etown. They ran away with the first set with a 25-19 win. Widener kept it close throughout the majority of the set, but Etown soon took over. Up one point, 16-15, the Jays went on a run that’d see them take six of the next seven points en route to their set win. Finch and Chapman were the main culprits, earning points early to spring the momentum in Etown’s favor.
In the second set, Etown would fall behind by as many as six. However, the team regrouped and found a spark. They’d have runs where they’d score three, four and five straight points. Widener kept themselves in striking range, but the Blue Jays would eventually prove to be too much, winning 26-24 and finding a two set advantage early.
Widener took the third set 25-23 and held the lead throughout most of the set. Etown would once again try to rally with some late set magic, scoring seven of the last nine points. However, the seven point advantage their counterparts had built up was just too much.
Although Widener took the third set, the Blue Jays wouldn’t let this one slip away and took the last set 25-21. Just like their other set wins, Etown was thriving off energy. It looked like Widener was well on their way to tying this thing up, but Etown sparked another run. A kill by Smith down three points would get the Blue Jays into a rhythm. They’d score eight of the next nine points to grab a four point lead and they wouldn’t look back.
This win helped the Jays move to three games over the .500 mark. After a game with Hood College on Tuesday Feb. 13, …. Next up, Etown will take on Kean College in Union, N.J. on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
