After a tough loss against Juniata College (12-0, 1-0 LC) on Friday, Sept. 29, Elizabethtown College’s women’s volleyball team (7-6, 1-1 LC) put out an impressive 3-0 win against Lycoming College (10-3, 0-2 LC) on Saturday, Sept. 30. The Jays led and won each set in a dominant fashion, particularly the latter two where they held a considerable lead over Lycoming for much of the entirety of each set. This is a good turnaround for the team in comparison to the Juniata match, where the Jays only managed to score 6 more points in the entire match than in just the first set against Lycoming. It is important to recognize that Juniata is currently leading the league and is undefeated.
Against a better matched opponent, the Jays were able to display their power on the court, beating Lycoming in every stat: Kills (38-30), Blocks (5-3), Aces (6-4), Digs (92-86) and Points (49-37). The difference in the attitude of the two teams was also very apparent, with Etown remaining positive and cheerful through the match, even when Lycoming tried to close the gap in the 3rd set; however, Lycoming became increasingly frustrated and flustered as the match went on.
The first set was extremely competitive between the two sides, lasting almost 35 minutes and ending 27-25 for the Jays. Both teams rallied back and forth, with balanced play between the Jays and the Warriors. However, that was the end of any sort of balanced play, with the Jays coming out and finishing the second set in a dominant fashion, and Lycoming only putting up a fight for a short rally in the middle of the set.
The third set went even smoother than the second, for the most part. The Jays held a consistent lead for the entirety of the set, maintaining a six-to-nine-point gap for almost the entire set. Lycoming almost rallied near the end, where they closed the gap from 16-24 all the way to 21-24, however the Jays managed to snag that crucial last point. Their commanding lead allowed the Jays to put in several first-year players, allowing them to gain important experience on court, even if they’re not playing entire matches.
Hopefully, this positive result will carry into their coming matches against Drew University (2-10, 1-1 LC) on Oct. 6 and University of Scranton (7-7, 2-0 LC) on Oct. 7. Both should be winnable matches, so long as the Jays keep the positive energy and play of the Lycoming match. This rebound should be a good sign of the Jays’ resiliency and ability to keep moving forward, even after a tough result. Their performance against Lycoming should set them up for a good coming week and keep their record moving in a more positive direction.
