MEADVILLE, Pa.—The Allegheny College volleyball team overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat John Carroll University in five sets in nonconference action Thursday (Oct. 5) in Meadville.
The Gators took the sets 25-22, 14-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-9.
In the opening set, the Gators jumped out to a fast 6-2 lead. After some push back from the Blue Streaks, the Gators went on a 4-0 lead to advance the lead to 15-6. The Blue Streaks started to slowly chip away at the Gator lead, bringing the set within one at 23-22. However, the Gators rebounded as a kill by
Alysha Crowther and a John Carroll attack error gave Allegheny the set.
Similar to how the Gators started the first set, the Blue Streaks took an early 7-2 lead. After back-and-forth play, the Gators brought the game to 18-13, but the Blue Streaks won seven of the final eight points to win the set and even up the match.
The Blue Streaks won the opening four points of the third set. The Gators utilized a quick 3-0 lead to bring the score to 8-7. Following the Gator run, the Blue Streaks went on a 7-3 run, forcing a Gator timeout. The Gators won the ensuing point but John Carroll answered with a 5-0 run. A 5-0 run of their own was the response from the Gators to bring the score to 20-15. The teams traded points the rest of the set to give John Carroll a 2-1 lead.
The Gators had a fast start in the fourth set, jumping ahead 7-3. The Gators maintained that lead until a 5-0 John Carroll run gave them their first lead of the set, 16-15. After exchanging a series of points, a 3-0 Allegheny run gave them a 23021 lead. The last five points of the set went back-and-forth as a Blue Streak attack error gave the Gators a 25-23 set win, forcing a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth set, the Gators got off to a 4-1 lead with kills from
Leah Franzluebbers,
Karissa Welker and
Tamara Babic, as well as a block from Crowther and Babic. After a Blue Streak kill, Welker recorded a kill, followed by an ace from
Kylee Karczewski to extend the lead to 6-2. Following a timeout, John Carroll tallied a point on a kill, but
Elizabeth Debich answered with back-to-back kills.
Trailing 8-3, John Carroll went on a 4-0 run to bring the set within one and force an Allegheny timeout.
After trading points, the Gators went on a 3-0 run. Debich recorded her third kill of the set, followed by a pair of blocks in which Franzluebbers was a part of.
Leading 12-9, the Gators closed the match on a 3-0 run. After a Franzluebbers kill, her and Welker tallied to a block to set up a match point. An attack error from John Carroll gave the Gators the five-set win, 15-9.
Offensively, Franzluebbers led the Gators with 15 kills, hitting .406. Welker had eight while Crowther, Debich and
Hannah Cubarney all had six.
Justine Kelly had 39 assists. Karczewski was a force on serves, finishing with seven aces. As a team, the Gators tallied 10.
Terra Schall led the Gators with 30 digs. That total moved her to second all-time. Her 2,037 digs trails just Joy Kosiewicz's 2,218.
In addition to her assists and four kills, Kelly finished with 13 digs.
Rachel Slotterback totaled 12.
At the net, Franzluebbers tallied seven total blocks (2 solo, 5 assisted). Crowther had four (2 solo, 2 assisted) while Kelly and Welker had three assisted blocks apiece.
The Gators are back in action Saturday (October 8), playing host to Wittenberg University, ranked first in Division-III.
