Friday, Sept. 7 and Saturday, Sept. 8, Elizabethtown College’s women’s volleyball team competed in the York College Spartan Invitational.
Etown’s first game was Friday against #16-ranked Johns Hopkins University, who won all three matches over Etown.
Junior Elle Shatto led Etown in kills and sophomore Aiyana Tietze-Di Toro had a game-high 13 digs. The Jays also had one ace each from first-year Rileigh Hudock, sophomore Marisa Krinock and senior Mackenzie Garner.
Etown bounced back from their tough loss against Johns Hopkins later that night with a sweep of New York University.
The Bobcats started off strong with three consecutive kills, but two kills by Etown senior Sarah Schneider and a service ace by senior Katie Kennedy kept the Jays in the game.
The rest of the game remained close until the Jays were able to pull away at the end and win the match 25-22.
Etown dominated the second match with a 25-19 win, but this was followed by another close match. The Jays were up 23-20, but two kills and an attack error on Etown tied the score at 23, until two errors on the Bobcats gave way to an Etown win. Schneider had a game-high 10 kills and Krinock a game-high five aces.
The Jays were back the next day against York College. Etown held their own against the Spartans in the first match and a six-point run put them up 18-17.
The Jays were able to hold on to the lead and take the first match 25-21. York won the next three consecutive matches 25-19, 25-20 and 25-19.
The Jays ended the weekend on a high note with another 3-0 sweep, this time over Gallaudet University.
A nine-point run put Etown up 21-6 and a final kill by Garner gave the Jays a 25-11 win. Gallaudet came back strong in the second set and a five-point run put the Bisons up 10-8 until a series of kills and errors put the Jays back up 17-14.
The lead changed hands one last time until a kill by Shatto tied the score at 19. After that, the Jays got the lead back and held on for a 25-21 win.
The final game of the afternoon was another close one, but culminated in a five-point run for Etown, allowing the Jays to complete the sweep with a 25-17 win. Garner tied a game-high 11 kills and Schneider had a game-high four aces.
“I was very happy with my own performance and my team’s performance this weekend,” Hudock said. “Losing to two very beatable teams was disheartening, but I think we as a team will learn from our mistakes and only improve from here.”
