Elizabethtown College men’s volleyball had their final home game on Wednesday, April 1, where they had their final Continental Volleyball Conference matchup of the season against Marymount University. Etown came into the matchup 18-9 with strong performances throughout the season, however, were having trouble in conference play with a 2-4 record. With a win, the Blue Jays had the opportunity to host a home playoff game in a few weeks. Marymount came into the contest ahead of the Blue Jays in the conference standings, with a 3-3 record and a 15-11 record overall.
The first set started off evenly between the two conference sides, with Etown taking an early three point lead after kills by junior outside hitter Mason Boyer and senior outside hitter Logan Smith got the game started. The Saints began to make a run, tying the set at 16 after forcing a couple of attack errors and picking up a few kills of their own. The Blue Jays held a 21-19 lead after a kill by sophomore outside hitter Arun Gopinath, however, Marymount went on a huge run, scoring five straight points to put them one point away from ending the set. Despite efforts by the Blue Jays to force the set into extras, Marymount took the first set 25-22.
Things started to come around for the Blue Jays in the second set, with Boyer nabbing two kills to tie the set early and senior libero Dustin Hagin picking up his first and only kill of the game. The Blue Jays continued rolling, scoring four straight points to hold an early lead in the set after kills by Boyer and Gopinath. The points were split back and forth between the two teams with neither side able to grab enough momentum to spark a rally. Marymount, slowly but surely, was able to grab enough momentum to eliminate the deficit, tying the set at 24. Etown didn’t let the set go into extras for too long as kills by Gopinath and sophomore outside hitter Braydon Ambruster tied the game at 1-1.
Marymount flipped the script on Etown in the third set, taking an early lead and splitting points back and forth as they held a small yet steady three point lead. Three straight kills by Gopinath and an attack error tied the set up at 16 as the Blue Jays closed the gap late in the set, however, Marymount found their momentum at the right time, surging to a five-point lead and eventually taking the third set 25-20.
Down to their last opportunity, the Blue Jays needed to find some momentum to force a fifth set. Marymount took control early, jumping out to a 15-6 lead and forcing the Blue Jays to take an early timeout. Despite being down nine, the Blue Jays worked their way back, forcing a few attack errors and collecting an ace from sophomore middle hitter Max Sears. Etown narrowed the lead down to five, however, Marymount was able to seal their win, winning their third and final set 25-18.
Etown was led by Gopinath with a team-leading 13 kills, followed by Boyer with ten and Ambruster with six. Boyer led the team in aces with two and tied with Smith and senior middle hitter Cole Burkhardt with four blocks each. Sophomore setter Patrick Neyer led the Blue Jays with 22 assists, followed by Ambruster with 16.
The Blue Jays finished their regular season with a record of 18-11 and a conference record of 2-5, securing their first postseason appearance as a program. The six seeded Blue Jays will head to Rutgers-Newark for their first round playoff game on April 7.
