The Elizabethtown College women’s volleyball team celebrated Senior Day in a big way on Friday, Oct. 13 against Catholic University. This one went the distance of five sets, and the Blue Jays would survive a thriller, taking the match three sets to five.
Seniors—middle blocker Katie Scaggs, outside hitter Georgianna Kahley and libero Kambrie Helper—were celebrated in pregame festivities. Scaggs tallied 12 kills and seven blocks, Kahley totaled eight kills, one block and one ace and Helper notched two kills to go along with her five assists. All were keys to Friday’s win, helping 9-8 on the season and 3-3 in Landmark Conference play.
Overall, it was an even match, as the stat sheet read 78 points to 74 points in favor of Catholic. Other stats that were close were kills, aces and blocks. Etown had 53 kills to Catholic’s 60, nine aces to Catholic’s 10 and 12 blocks to their eight. While the Blue Jays were outdone in assists 59 to 47, that did not stop them from grabbing their ninth win of the season.
The match was the definition of a back-and-forth affair, and the opener set the tone. The Blue Jays would capture a 27-25 win in set one on the back of Scaggs and junior outside hitter Savannah Lesley, who had three kills each. With things knotted at 25 late, Etown would put together back-to-back points, winning a hard-fought set.
Catholic would get on the board in the second set, bouncing back with a 25-20 win. Etown went down early 5-0, but they kept it close. They narrowed the Catholic lead all the way down to two, 21-19. However, the early deficit proved too much to come back from.
The Blue Jays were fired up in the third set, taking as large as a nine-point lead and winning 25-16. Lesley was once again on point in this set, cementing her terrific day with six kills in the set to put Etown up.
Etown had the opportunity to put things away in the fourth set, but Catholic would not be denied, matching Etown with a 25-14 set win. Just as the Blue Jays had done in the third, Catholic returned the favor, pushing the issue and going up by as much as 13. Etown had 10 errors in this set, allowing Catholic to slip away.
The Blue Jays pulled through in the fifth and final set with a 15-12 victory. It looked easy for Etown early, going up quickly 5-0. But as was the story with the rest of the match, the score would get tight. With their backs against the wall, Catholic would fight back and close a 14-8 gap to 14-12. Kahley, however, would deliver the knockout blow with her eighth kill of the day.
The Blue Jays played the last game of their homestand on Wednesday, Oct. 18 against Lancaster Bible College at 7 p.m. They hoped to push their two-game winning streak to four with their two home matchups this week.
