In a tri-match on Saturday, Sept. 28, the Elizabethtown College Blue Jays volleyball team split its matches. Its match against Haverford College ended in a 3-1 set loss, but Etown rallied from a two-set deficient to win against Gettysburg College.
The Blue Jays were led by junior Kelci Scannapieco and sophomore Abby Thrift, who each had 30 or more kills in the two matches. Defense for the Blue Jays was led by senior Carolyn Lukiewski by recording 29 digs in the first match against Haverford, falling one short of her fourth 30-dig match of the season. She went on to get 32 digs in the later match against Gettysburg.
Etown won the first set against Haverford, 25-23, but the Fords went on to win the next three sets, 25-23, 26-24 and 26-24. The Fords, now 10-4, were led by Keri Godbe who had 27 kills and 32 digs in the match. Etown sophomores Juliana Mowen and Mary Clyne put up their eighth double-doubles in the match. Mowen recorded 10 kills and 16 digs while Clyne accounted for 47 assists and 11 digs.
In the later match against Gettysburg, the Blue Jays were trailing by two sets, losing 25 -16 and 27-25. Etown then rallied back to win the next three sets, 25-22, 27-25 and 15-10. Head Coach Randall Kreider attributed the win to the team’s “never quit” attitude. “We faced match point more than once against Gettysburg and fought it off until we were done,” Kreider said. Clyne put up a career-high 55 assists along with 11 digs. Gettysburg, Kreider’s alma mater, fell to 8-9, a game below .500.
With the Blue Jays down two sets against the Bullets, Etown led most of the third set but faced match-point in the fourth set. Junior Taylor Beck lifted the Jays back into the match to lead 26-25. Thrift then made a set-point kill to tie the match at two sets. The fifth set started with the Blue Jays’ trailing 8-6. Lukiewski, the lone senior on the team, then went on to serve for six points and two service aces to give Etown a 12-8 lead. The team went on to wrap up the set and match with an ace by sophomore Shannon Deck. Scannapieco was confident after the match, and said, “this weekend was a confidence booster. We proved to ourselves that we have already improved as a team in just a few short weeks.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 2, the team had a conference match against the Lebanon Valley College Flying Dutchmen. Both teams entered the match undefeated in conference play. Kreider attributed the success to their non-conference opponents. “We play a tough non-conference schedule to prepare for conference play,” Kreider said. “We still have work to do in the Commonwealth but are positioned well for the second half. If we can continue to pull in the same direction, we will be right in the mix in November.”
The Blue Jays lost their first in-conference match-up against Lebanon Valley College yesterday in three straight sets. Mowen lead Etown with four kills in the match.
The Blue Jays will next play in the MAC Crossover, where they will take on Misericordia Wilkes Universities Saturday Oct. 5.
