WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Allegheny College volleyball team split its first two matches at the Lycoming Warrior Tip-Off Classic, as the Gators defeated Penn College but fell to Elizabethtown this evening.
Allegheny (5-3, 0-0 NCAC) held a two-set lead in its first match of the night, but the Blue Jays stunned the Gators by taking the following three sets to earn the victory (25-23, 25-19, 21-25, 23-25, 10-15). Senior outside hitter
Taylor Samuel paced Allegheny with her fourth double-double of the season as she tallied a team-high 15 kills and 17 digs.
The Gators collected 108 digs as a team against Elizabethtown with four players reaching double-figures. Sophomore libero
Terra Schall continued her blistering start with a team-high 33 digs, while classmates
Kylee Karczewski (22) and
Justine Kelly (13) joined the double-digit club with Samuel.
Kelly directed the Allegheny offensive attack with 41 assists. Along with Samuel, sophomore right side
Morgan Bush was in double-figures for kills with 12. Bush was also one of three Gators with a pair of blocks, joining middle hitters
Sarah Swartz and
Leah Franzluebbers.
Allegheny responded from the heartbreaking defeat to Elizabethtown quite well however, as it swept Penn College convincingly in the night cap (25-10, 25-13, 25-11). 14 players appeared in the rout, including freshmen
Bri Ashley and
Bree Blair, who made their collegiate debuts.
It was a balanced attack against the Wildcats as the Gators hit .306 as a team and had 10 players register at least one kill. Junior outside hitter
Bailey Gawley led the way with seven, while Samuel and sophomore outside hitter
Hannah Cubarney connected on six swings each.
Defensively, Schall and Karczewski reached double-figures in digs with 14 and 13, respectively. Franzluebbers collected a solo block and two block assists to pace the team.
Allegheny closes out the invitational tomorrow with back-to-back matches against host Lycoming and York (Pa.) College. The Gators take on the Warriors at 9:30 a.m. and meet the Spartans afterward.
