The Elizabethtown College women’s volleyball team continued in the Landmark Conference Saturday Sept. 27 as they competed against Juniata College and Susquehanna University.
Juniata and Susquehanna were picked first and second, respectively, in the Landmark Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Senior Kelci Scannapieco completed eight kills, leading Etown against Juniata (14-2, 2-0 Landmark).
Unfortunately, the Juniata Eagles were too much for the Blue Jays to take on victoriously. The Eagles led with 35 kills, seven errors and a total of 87 hitting attempts. Juniata defeated the Jays 3-0 with set scores of 25-13, 25-14 and 25-19.
Kelly Schriever, a sophomore from Lewisburg, Ohio, said, “The games were slightly disappointing. We don’t seem to be clicking like we should.”
First-year Chelsea Gallagher was optimistic about the loss. “I think we played well against Juniata in the beginning, and then shut down after they got a lead. They are a highly ranked team, and we hung in there,” she said.
Senior Samantha Hicks collected three kills and had two solo blocks while junior Megan McNaul also collected three kills and two aces.
“The second game against the Susquehanna Crusaders was back and fourth, but we couldn’t finish it,” Gallagher said.
During the game the Blue Jays were neck-and-neck in the first two sets. However, the Jays were outscored 19-25 in the games. The Crusaders were able to overpower the Blue Jays in the third set with a score of 25-11 for a three-set sweep, giving Etown its third conference loss.
Scannapieco overall had eight kills in the match. McNaul had five, senior Taylor Beck also earned five kills for Etown. All three combined made up two-thirds of Blue Jays offence. Senior Jen Cook also led Etown with seven digs during the game, while Gallagher has six.
Junior setter Steph High set up 23 kills, dug six balls and assisted on three blocks. “When our junior setter Steph High went on a run with serving during the third set of Juniata, that was our major play,” Gallagher said.
Schriever also agreed that High’s serving was a commendable performance.“I think the team was nervous and excited about the games. The teams we were able to play were the top two in our conference and Juniata is ranked eighth in the country, so playing teams at that level is exciting and nerve racking,” Schriever said.
“I think we were a little nervous for both games, only because they were conference games,” Schriever said.
Overall, Schriever and Gallagher were happy with the effort the team put into the game. Although the Blue Jays left Juniata with outcomes they did not hope for, their outlook on the rest of the season and conference standings is positive.
Etown heads to Moravian University to continue conference play on Saturday, Oct. 4 to take on Scranton University and United States Merchant Marine Academy.